#and also why do i have to live in the most garbage province ever

[oligiroudd]

fkn hate that the tickets to the canadian gp are affordable if you really don't care where you sit or what kind of access you have but because the country is so big and air travel here is garbage, even flying to MTL and staying one night is unaffordable

and thus going to the race is actually completely unaffordable unless you prepared and saved a shit ton of money way in advance

[southeastasianists]

From the iconic films of drag legend Divine to the campy classics The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar; the essential documentary Paris Is Burning to the groundbreaking TV series Pose; and, of course, the popular herstory-making franchise of RuPaul’s Drag Race. There’s a plethora of content from drag culture that can comfort the weary during these confusing times.

Drag, in its basic sense, is about transformation. It’s a reaction to society’s standards and expectations. However, albeit entertaining at first glance, drag, like any other art form, has always been political. From half a century ago’s queens of Stonewall riots to today’s digital queens, drag has always fought for the downtrodden – all the while wearing seven-inch rhinestone-studded heels.

In celebration of Pride Month, INQUIRER.net talked to six of the country’s fiercest queens about the importance of drag in this period of turmoil.

The art of drag

I always knew I like creating things, whether it’s dressing up our Christmas tree or dressing up for Halloween. When I first transformed in drag, it was like an epiphany. I knew this is something I would do for a long time. It was love at first drag…

As much as the pandemic has taken away the physical interaction that we used to enjoy during our parties, it also opened up more opportunities for the art of drag to be seen and appreciated. In the past, local drag queens and performers can only be seen inside nightclubs and LGBTQ establishments, and a lot of enthusiasts and artists don’t have access to such places, especially minors and those living in the provinces.

Nowadays, I still get to do drag, but more on hosting and co-producing online shows and parties. In doing so, I’m able to gather people and provide platforms for other drag artists to be seen and perform. So far, the reception has been good, especially since online e-numan is slowly becoming the new normal for our patrons in the clubs…

Drag is dynamic, evolving, and very diverse. Here in the Philippines, most people are familiar with drag through impersonators and our trans sisters donned in impeccable gowns. But there are also drag artists with occult or alternative aesthetics, or unpolished makeup skills, or garbage as part of their brand, and those who tell stories onstage that some may not like.

I, for one, am a storyteller. What I do is I incorporate current events or matters of public interest in the songs I perform. By carefully listening to the lyrics of a song, I weave its meaning to my stand on social issues. People may say it’s a political agenda, or that I’m biased or off-putting, but that’s what art does. It’s meant to provoke and challenge ideologies…

Human rights should never be a collateral damage. It is not the law itself that puts the people at risk. It’s the integrity and morality of those enforcing it that predisposes people to danger and makes them fear for their lives. Why would we trust such absolute power to this government?

-- Eva Le Queen

Mascots of the LGBT community

I started doing drag as an escape from reality. Just like any other art form, it’s a vehicle for the expression of my alter ego. My drag persona is an extension of who I am as a person.

I see it more as a hobby than work. I tell myself that I will stop doing drag once it starts to feel like work. During this pandemic, it’s so heartwarming to see all these queens, young and old, come together during these hard times…

There’s a Chicago drag queen named TRex who said, “As drag queens, we are the mascots of the LGBT community.” That resonated with me because we have a responsibility to amplify the voices of our community. Just because we’re entertainers doesn’t mean we don’t have a say on political issues.

In this country, those who criticize the government get silenced. That’s why as part of a community of outcasts in a society that conforms deeply to tradition, we make it a point to speak out without fear or reservations. Because at the end of the day, we have to be echoes that will remind our countrymen that we are the generation that never forgets…

It’s crazy. “I am the law.” That’s what’s happening in our country right now. It’s no longer about the law of the state. That’s why the Terror Bill is wrong. If the government can abuse the law against journalists who are only doing their job, they can surely do it to anyone.

The problem is, supporters of politicians act like fandoms. It shouldn’t be that way. They hold their positions because the people put them there. But, really, what can we expect from this government? You elect a clown, expect a circus.

-- ØV CÜNT

Disturbing the comfortable

Drag is a matter of creating your own reality, and in creating your identity, you get to choose the traits that you want to embody. I believe that it’s a melting pot of everything I’ve learned in life, especially from theater and the arts.

As drag queens, we get to break the social norms, and we do it with more power and confidence than we ever thought we had.

Drag is art, and art in general is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. It’s a fun way of looking at what’s happening in our society and of doing checks and balances. Drag queens have always been integral in the LGBT movement, and removing politics from a drag queen is the same as removing that person’s identity…

Ever since the lockdown, more newbies have joined the scene, and they even get to perform with the more veteran queens. People aren’t that busy so we get to interact with each other. Queens from different clubs and cities finally get the chance to collaborate. Everyone gets a level playing field.

At the same time, it’s also challenging because it’s still a live show, so you still have to put in the effort. There’s no assurance of a talent fee, and the attention span of netizens is so short, especially with so many things competing for their attention online. It’s a different stage, too. We’re constricted to the screens of other people’s devices…

I always try to make my drag fun, but it depends on the mood, the sound, and the message. Same with crafting any other performance, there has to be a story. You should get the audience hooked and there has to be an escalation and climax. Whether you make it subtle or literal, the message always has to come across.

For me, the message is often about coming together as so-called deviants and telling people who we are and demanding what is ours, or telling people that we are not a sin and that being ourselves is good enough.

-- Mrs. Tan

Drag is unbreakable

I did drag for the first time by joining Drag Cartel back in November 2017. It’s a competition for aspiring drag queens. Category for the night was “Disney On Ice,” so I came as Prince Charming in drag. That night, I won, and from there, my love for drag just bloomed.

I do it because it makes me do things that I’d normally just fantasize about. It’s a realization of the things that give me inspiration. The look, the makeup, the attitude. Even though it takes a lot of time, effort, and money, and even though my face breaks out and I get physically hurt while performing, living that fantasy is still the best feeling…

“Keep drag alive” is what we always say, and that goes for togetherness. For drag queens, drag enthusiasts, and drag lovers to maximize the power of social media and uplift queer artists to keep pushing, and to show that this pandemic is not a reason to stop doing what you love…

Drag is a middle finger to all forms of hatred, homophobia, discrimination, social injustice, and stigma…

What’s going on in our country is so overwhelming that I’m often left speechless. Every day I scroll through my feed and I see one issue after another, and it makes me feel sick. I’m disgusted by the people responsible for all this mess.

I just hope people will take note of those in power who haven’t done anything good for this country. I hope that come election season, the people will remember what’s going on now and who’s responsible. I hope they vote for the right people. That’s all we can do as Filipinos.

—PRINCE

An image of hope

I started doing drag April of 2019 when I met a few drag queens (now my drag sisters and best friends) who helped me build my drag persona. I have always been very flamboyant and effeminate growing up, and drag opened up the possibilities for me to express those traits even further. Before, I was just doing it for self-discovery, but now, it’s for the community as well.

Drag is about finding the courage to create an image of hope and fulfilment for yourself that could later on affect other people’s lives…

The local scene has been very resilient when it comes to this pandemic. This is a living proof that drag is possible even without clubs and big venues. Just like wild grass, it’s bound to find a way to grow on its own no matter what…

Drag has always been political, and expressing my thoughts on socio-political issues through performances, public posts, online protests, and family and peer conversations is a way for me to maximize my drag as a political medium.

With everything that we’re facing right now, I think a lot of people are scared for their own safety more than ever. Aside from the unresolved coronavirus crisis, it’s really frightening to witness the recent displays of abuse of power and the questionable decisions of this government.

As a member of a community that has long been experiencing inequality, discrimination, and unlawful acts, I am deeply saddened with how all of this misconduct diminishes my hopes for a country free from oppression.

—Marina Summers

On the right side of history

Drag is my art, my craft, and my passion. Without it, I’m incomplete. It’s an alternative persona but it’s also part of my identity. It is the Juliet to my Romeo.

My interest in drag started after I saw the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. The glitz and glamour was so fascinating, and I immediately wanted to be part of that world.

People may see us as glamorous toads with a million rhinestones in 7-inch heels but, girl, it’s not as easy as it looks. Drag is not just crossdressing. It’s a transformation.

Drag queens are probably the most resilient and most creative people I know. Drag is thriving even on lockdown. There are a lot of online shows for all to see. We figured out a new way of showcasing our chops. We will survive this…

Drag is political. It was, it is, and it always will be. Periodt. I am a full-grown adult man dressed up to the nines, looking like Joan Crawford after losing the Oscars. It’s a big middle-finger to toxic masculinity and misogyny.

I like to think I have a considerable amount of following, which means I have a platform. I always have a choice, just like everybody else. One can choose to stay quiet, which effectively means choosing the side of the oppressors. Or I, a drag queen, can choose to be part of a positive change and help inspire a new generation of people who are not afraid to express themselves, political or otherwise.

I want to end on the right side of history. As a drag queen, I believe I can do that.

—Dee Dee Holliday

[purplesurveys]

895

“AGE”, Alternate Sounds

1. Did you wear a corsage or a boutonniere to prom? I’ve blocked out nearly every memory from my own prom so I can’t give an answer for that. Mike did get me a corsage when he asked me to go to his high school’s ball. I still actually have the corsage (or what’s left of it lol) in one of my drawers. Idk, I think it’s a cute high school thing to keep around.

2. When’s the last time you made a collage? I was a freshman in high school, most likely. That was around the time the app PicCollage got really popular so everyone loved making collages from there for a while.

3. Do you own any camouflage patterned clothing? I used to have baggy pants with that pattern, but I’ve thrown them out.

4. Do you know how to give a good massage? No. I can’t even accept massages; I’m way too ticklish.

5. Do you have a garage? We have a carport instead of a garage.

6. Have you ever made a montage of something before? Yes. It was a surprise I made for Gab’s birthday this year; I gathered all her college friends in a group chat and asked them to submit videos of themselves greeting her a happy birthday, and I also allowed them the option to submit photos that they have with her because I’m sure she’s had loads of snapshots with them.

7. Last mirage you’ve seen? My...car? HAHAHA uhm I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. That doesn’t happen a lot here, if at all.

8. Have you ever tried to sabotage anyone before? I don’t think so. I can be mean, but I don’t do premeditated shit like that.

9. Would you ever participate in a menage a trois? Why or why not? No. Not my thing.

1. How many pieces does your luggage set have? I just have one large luggage. I haven’t had such an expansive trip in that I had needed more than one. 

2. Last time you sent someone a message? Last night before going to bed.

3. Where did you wear your last bandage? Bottom of my right index finger. I got a paper cut.

4. Do you live in a village? Yeah, we call them villages or subdivisions here. They’re gated communities exclusive to the people living in it.

5. Does your town have a sewage problem? I’ve never heard of any, no. 

6. Do you like to eat cabbage? Sure. My favorite way to eat it is as kimchi.

7. Do you have a lot of emotional baggage? I’d say it’s heavy, but it’s not a lot. Most of it just stems from my life at home especially when I was younger.

8. How often do you take out the garbage? My parents never assign it to us kids actually. They’d rather do it.

9.  Were you an average student? In high school I was average in that I never really made a mark or made an effort to stand out in the crowd, but academically I was above-average. 

10. Last time there was a power outage? Months ago. I can no longer remember exactly when but we definitely had one in 2019, I think.

11. Where would you like to go on your next voyage? I wanna start close to home and go to either Thailand, Vietnam, or South Korea before venturing out into other continents.

12. Do you think that you could manage living alone? Not yet. I want to learn how to make enough meals to be able to sustain myself first and I also have to know how bank accounts and credit cards work lol

13. How much courage do you have? Differs everyday.

14. Last thing you own that got damaged? My charger. I’ve been using a spare one ever since though, so I’m good.

15. Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a hostage situation? No. That’s a fear of mine.

16. Are you a savage? In slang terms I can definitely be sharp with my words and comebacks. But when it comes to its traditional meaning, I wouldn’t describe myself as that at all.

17. Last dosage of medication you took? I’m not sure. I just drink one tablet of it whenever I get a headache.

18. Would you like to live in a cottage? It would be nice to try for at least a couple of days, just to see what it’d be like. It’s not my type of scenery or environment though so I wouldn’t want to live there permanently. I feel like I’d feel too lonely or too suffocated eventually.

19. Would you know how to forage in the wilderness in order to survive? No.

20.  Do you have to lick your postage stamps, or do they just stick onto the envelope? I’ve never had to use postage stamps.

21. Who would you like to pay homage to? Nacho. If I ever get tattoos I’d want one of them to be a plate of nachos to constantly remind me of him. Or a tattoo of the moon because one of his favorite songs before he passed was Buwan (’moon’ in Filipino).

22. Are you into bondage? I’m into it but tbh we’ve yet to try it out.

23. Have you ever traced your family lineage? I have an uncle who has as he’s into that kind of stuff and technically does it for a living. I learned from him that pre-colonially, we come from the datu lineage of our home province, and that made us part of the principalia class during the Spanish regime. I want to be proud of my family’s history so much but it just meant that we were complicit in the Spanish’s crimes against the Filipinos, so it’s not a family fact that I show off.

24. Last time you went to a rummage sale? Have you ever had a rummage sale? High school, probably. We haven’t had our own.

25. Have you ever felt taken advantage of? Of course.

26. What’s one thing you hope you could salvage from a fire? My dogs.

27. Do you like autumn foliage? I find them very beautiful but unfortunately we can’t have that here.

28. What do you use as a means of storage solutions? I just like squishing things in my various drawers hahaha. Idk I’m moving out in the next few years; I don’t see the need to spice up my room or DIY it at this point.

29. Do you prefer Polish, German, or Italian sausage? Not a fan of sausage to begin with, so I’m unfamiliar with all of these.

30.  Last reading passage you read? A few pages from Little Women.

31.  What is your car’s gas mileage? I think it’s a little over 30,000 km.

[a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

[one-shoop]

My mother actually admitted to a professional that she would "push us to face our fears" and "square up" or whatever when we were anxious. I don't know why this information doesn't make me happier. I have proof that she's the one who's been at the core of all my most complex mindsets -- like the "don't ask for help unless you really need it" and "am I hurt enough to be allowed to be sad" and "is this bad enough so I don't need to swallow it and search for solutions, or is this pain bad enough I can keep it". She literally admitted to doing all of that.

She's the reason I didn't ask for help in exams. She basically admitted to all the stuff she did as a mother -- her miraculously-unused scheme to push me off a bike so I wouldn't be scared of it anymore ("but pushing you nicely, so you don't actually get hurt, just to show you it's not scary" says mom like this excuses anything), all the times she talked about messing around with her students' rigidities and complex things (she called it "breaking them" like seriously) -- she'll "confront" autistic people or perfectionnists. She admitted to making sure the kid who hated losing loses at all games until he "learns to suck it up" and "accept things" or whatever, she admitted to messing up an autistic/rigid kid's meticulously arranged pieces of paper to "show them it didn't matter if they were messed up, it's the paper itself that counts", and doing that everytime they meet up, even going so far as pretending the kids actually like when she does that. How is this woman even a freaking orthopédagogue, I have no idea.

But she keeps "pushing them out of their comfort zones" and it's just not okay. And the way she talks to them, the way she behaves around them -- it pisses me off just thinking about it. And yesterday she confessed to her motives.

And -- this is a woman who said that the Roman Empire was justified, the murder of millions and all the crap was justified, that people were being stupid when they refused to have roman soldiers on their land -- this is a woman who said that "the tribes didn't want to be in peace, they wanted to keep fighting" and "Rome was keeping the peace". Someone who literally has no freaking reason to believe this crap -- seriously???? The Roman empire was garbage???? This is someone who said "well, if you see slavery as the limit, no civilisation ever was good" when I told her the goddamn empire worked on slaves' back, and refused to acknowledge how Caesar was a piece of garbage, how people watched prisoners of war get freaking KILLED in arenas like it was a fun thing to watch.

Like seriously???? She told me "homeless people should just work harder" and "it doesn't mean society is broken if they can't get jobs/housing" and "it's their fault -- and I know, I watched a documentary once" and "most homeless people are idiots, they don't want to get healed, they want to do drugs and they're childish, they don't want to get jobs, they don't want to work" and "we can't force people to do things they don't want to do, they don't want to get healed so leave them be" and "they basically want to stay homeless" and "they can't handle having a job" and "there are shelters in place, so if they don't go there, they're basically saying they want to stay homeless" like sure mom, this is a good mindset. Absolutely -- i so agree with the humanity of "they don't want to work, so let them starve" like this is forgetting that many homeless peeps are mentally ill? Or addicted? And they CAN'T GET TREATMENT much less any sort of respect from people???? And shelters are the worst??? If I base it on my experience at an Elder's retirement home, let me tell you social workers can be assholes and retirement homes can be a hostile environment to its patients. And also???? Some homeless peeps just leave because OH SNAP maybe they got THROWN OUT OF THEIR HOUSE and and since they're going they have fucking nowhere to go? Like -- ever hear of someone losing their spouse and having nobody ro turn to, so they spend a night outside, and then another, and when their boss hears they fire them so now they're jobless and penniless and BAM. And ever heard of the concept that maybe BEING ALCOHOLIC ISN'T CONTROLLABLE WITHOUT EXTERNAL HELP and do I really have to explain how buying alcohol/weed and being left to starve and freeze and get mugged all the time -- like seriously, there is NO REASON you should LET SOMEONE DIE.

Like ffs?????????? She said bombing an entire town full of civilians was a good move???? Since "they didn't want to surrender, they were too proud" and "they were too stubborn to give up so they had to be shown we wouldn't back down" like wow, minimalizing much??? We're talking about two whole goddamn towns being blown away -- imagine freaking Montreal just blown away like that. Those bombs were MASSIVE. Imagine the freaking KIDS. Seriously -- she can't bear to watch documentaries on the atomic bombs, it should be enough to make her realize that hey, maybe if something is too horrible to watch, you shouldn't DO IT TO PEOPLE? Nor excuse it????

Said that our country "didn't do too much slavery" and "WE were nice people, not like the English" and "we lived in peace" like seriously???? Remember all those times native people got sold as slaves??? Remember how métis came to be, with white people going in forests, stopping for a night at a tribe, and raping a woman there????? And then that woman would get expelled and her baby would be shunned for not belonging either with the white bastards or with the mother's birth tribe?? Remember how Montréal was built to be a freaking conversion thing for the native peoples thar lived near??? Remember how we had missionaries?

Remember that time she kept saying that in the Bible, the Jewish people were the bad guys -- the Romans were good? Defending the dude from the washing hands thing, saying he had no other choice to keep the people happy than to kill J-boy, and saying it was "the Jewish religious leaders's" fault for all of it? For "forcing people to hate him"? Saying the Jewish people were jerks like they didn't want to pay taxes to this guy who invaded their land, right??? Well apparently they're jerks for that???

Saying Sikh community people can never get into politics because "politicians are supposed to represent the majority of their people, and they're never part of the majority anywhere" and rolling her eyes when I say "what, so what you're saying is that if you're part of that community, you can't EVER get into politics? What if it was your dream??? Should you give up your religion to be allowed to compete?"

And apparently all of that is because of some "book" she read once about how to deal with anxiety in kids. How, apparently, this "book" was enough to spark all of this nonsense.

Like wtf mom

Wtf

Like for someone who keeps talking about "facing your fears" she sure is ignoring a whole lot of information back here. Like ever heard of someone dismissing the truth because it's too hard? Like if this was really your philosophy I'd think you'd be the first one to fall out bs propaganda and fight for a better place and a more compassionate view of others, and like -- her philosophy is supposed to be about confronting your fears to work on them like how tf can you do that without even admitting there's a problem???? She's making shif up for a shitton of historical shit that have literally no fucking data on all the goodness she pretends exists -- like seriously man just google literally any of those things and you'll have proof it happened -- even NOW we have literal places where every native person lives like some weird ghetto bht wirh government funding. Native lands aren't even legally recognized by our bs country, they don't have a fucking representative or their own, they don't even have their own province ffs they live in shitty places where poverty happens because SURPRISE when you strip someone of their land, their dignity, their culture, and their religion, and all their space to just freaking exist -- MAYBE it fucks them up. And just MAYBE being stripped of your integrity as a person and a clan is MAYBE stripped away and MAYBE you have nothing to really do with your identity. So MAYBE you should consider that when you pretend the shit our people did wasn't completely horrific. MAYBE you'd understand how desperatly something needs to be done.

And ALL OF THIS just doesn't cut it for a goddamn book about education or whatever it was. I dont know what this is but this just feels like fucking victim blaming. This can't be about "facing your fears", this is about dictating them, this is about making things up, about controlling the reality. This is about making the reality to be more pleasant for you to live in, this is about you controlling people to see things as you do. This is about you thinking people will never like you if you outright say you agree with the goddamn empire so you pretend there's some silver lining on it.

[formerlyjannafaye]

100 Questions

I was tagged by @janes-mike and @el-and-hop and @caseyk112 like 100 years ago and I just finished it now! Oops.

1. What is your nickname? Janaynay, Fayzers, Jan

2. How old are you? 31

3. What is your birth month? February

4. What is your zodiac sign? Aquarius

5. What is your favorite color? Rainbow

6. What’s your lucky number? 2

7. Do you have any pets? not at the moment

8. Where are you from? Canada

9. How tall are you? 5′4

10. What shoe size are you? 8

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? this is so embarassing, I probably own like 35 pairs of shoes (but in my defense, we experience extremes in all 4 seasons during the year) and I am a shoe addict.

12. Are you random? sometimes? but not really.

13. Last person you texted? my dad

14. Are you psychic in any way? i feel like i am really good at reading people and i have a really good memory when it comes to people so maybe a little?

15. Last TV show watched? New Girl

16. Favorite movie? Hard question! ET, Get Over It, Moulin Rouge

17. Favorite show from your childhood? Mr. Dressup!

18. Do you want children? I have one! I’d like one more, I think.

19. Do you want a church wedding? I had one.

20. What is your religion? I am a Christian, which I almost hate to say because Christians are represented so badly today and I am ashamed of this group so often. To clarify, I think Jesus is the bomb and so I try to emulate how he treated people. I’m also a feminist, pro marriage equality, pro choice, pro creation care/caring for the environment, I believe in science, I don’t believe in hell, and I hate violence. So...do with all that what you will.

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Yes, I go there a lot with my work.

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? I literally sweat when a cop car passes me and I’m a goody two shoes, so no! Haha

23. How is life? Its alright. I am really tired today which always affects my mood negatively. And I just watched Infinity War last night so I’m depressed, y’all. (edit: can you tell I started this over a week ago LOL)

24. Baths or showers? Showers (you could not pay me to get into a bath! germs!)

25. What color socks are you wearing? none, its too warm out

26. Have you ever been famous? Once I met the guy who won Canadian Idol and my local grocery store put up a picture of us together in the store and had it up for years. Haha! 

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? I used to really want to be famous, but celebs get a horrible deal these days. They have no privacy and our world thinks they owe us everything and really they owe us nothing so I would never ever want to be famous. I like being able to look like crap daily and not have it in magazines.

28. What type of music do you like? I like a wide variety of music, the only music I don’t like, really, is misogynistic rap and country. I am a choral and accapella music nerd, I love it so much.

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? Yup.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two.

31. What position do you usually sleep in? On my side with my top leg thrown over so I’m in a weird stomach/side position but its sooo comfy.

32. How big is your house? Its a good size! Big enough for us and then to host people that come to visit us and our yard is huge!

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? I suck at breakfast...toast or a granola bar.

34. Have you ever left the country? I have been to Germany, South Africa, Cuba, Costa Rica and the USA.

35. Have you ever tried archery? Many years ago at summer camp.

36. Do you like anyone? Well I’m married, so yes.

37. Favorite swear word? Shit. It is sooo satisfying to say.

38. When do you fall asleep? WAY too late every night. Between midnight and 2 am.

39. Do you have any scars? Yeah I have some from when I had the chickenpox as a kid and had no self control and scratched them off.

40. Sexual orientation? Straight.

41. Are you a good liar? I think I am a horrible liar, because I value authenticity so much and lying makes me anxious.

42. What languages would you like to learn? I would love to learn Spanish since its so beautiful. Really I just would love to not only speak English!

43. Top 10 songs? Oh my! What a question! Imma be safe and just say the top 10 songs I am listening to most often right now: Fall in Line by Christina Aguilera ft Demi Levato, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by BSB, Lost in Japan by Shawn Mendes, Bittersweet Symphony cover by Boyce Avenue, Love You Long Time by Pentatonix, Dive by Ed Sheeran, Nancy Mulligan by Ed Sheeran, New Rules cover by Pentatonix, Casanova by Allie X, Gravity by Sara Bareilles.

44. Do you like your country? I do! I am mad at our leader rn, and appalled that Ontario elected a Donald Trump wannabe as a premier (like WHY HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING ONTARIO PERSONS UGH) but overall I love being Canadian.

45. Do you have friends from the web? Yes! Its the best!

46. What is your personality type? I am an ESFP, an extrovert with introvert tendancies, and I am an enneagram 4 (seriously, google it. That is me to a T).

47. Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff 4 LYFE

48. Can you curl your tongue? Yes.

49. Pick one fictional character you can relate to? I am Anne from Anne of Green Gables, just not as smart. Just as dramatic and short tempered, though.

50. Left or right handed? Right

51. Are you scared of spiders? I don’t like them or want them near me.

52. Favorite food? Chocolate. Chips and Dip. Dill pickles.

53. Favorite foreign food? I love Mexican food so much I can’t even pick one thing. Also naan bread is the BOMB especially when dipped into dal makhani. Uuuuuuugggghh I wanna eat that so bad rn.

54. Are you a clean or messy person? I am pretty clean, messiness makes me crazy.

55. If you could switch your gender for a day, what would you do? Pee standing up, see what its like to not have to deal with bathroom lines, street harassment, etc.

56. What color underwear? Grey.

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? 20 mins, but usually longer because I don’t like to be rushed so I take my time.

58. Do you have much of an ego? I don’t think so? I’m a walking pile of insecurities.

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? I used to bite them but I have TMJ and my jaw is a piece of garbage that cannot withstand biting anything hard without popping all out of place and pain. Fun times.

60. Do you talk to yourself? Yup.

61. Do you sing to yourself? CONSTANTLY.

62. Are you a good singer? I have a pretty decent voice.

63. Biggest Fears? Losing people I love, dying, clowns, bats, cockroaches

64. Are you a gossip? I like being in the know but I don’t like pettiness. That said I sometimes find I have to focus REALLY hard to bite my tongue.

65. Are you a grammar nazi? Absolutely.

66. Do you have long or short hair? Its too long! I need a haircut.

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? Maybe? I might forget a few. The real question is can any of my American friends name the Canadian provinces (the CAN equivalent of states? I DOUBT IT yet we learn the states in school. SMH)

68. Favorite school subject? English and French

69. Extrovert or Introvert? Intoverted extrovert

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? Nope and I don’t plan on it.

71. What makes you nervous? Rooms full of people that don’t like me, small spaces, driving in winter.

72. Are you scared of the dark? Less than I used to be, but I don’t like it.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? I do daily but thats because I have a toddler and teaching/correction is important in some moments. But you also have to let them fail which is challenging to do.

74. Are you ticklish? Nope. Only my sister can tickle me and its so annoying when she does!

75. Have you ever started a rumor? Not that I can recall?

76. Have you ever been out of your home country? Yeah a few times

77. Have you ever drank underage? I don’t think so, I was 18 by the time I drank anything, I think.

78. Have you ever done drugs? No drugs scare the living crap out of me.

79. What do you fantasize about? Having more time to myself, living alone like a hermit and not having to work, having perfect hair every day, having another kid, living somewhere warm, saying snarky things to my MIL’s face.

80. How many piercings do you have? None.

81. Can you roll your R’s? Yes.

82. How fast can you type? Fast-ish if I’m on a roll but I don’t use the proper hand technique. I get by though.

83. How fast can you run? Run? Moi? HAHAHAHA

84. What color is your hair? Ash brown with a faded rainbow in the back.

85. What color are your eyes? Green.

86. What are you allergic to? Winter mold. Spring is the worst. And I can’t go barefoot on grass unless I want to have itchy swollen feet that I want to scratch off forever.

87. Do you keep a journal? I have one that I’m supposed to write a line a day in but I am the WORST at it. Once I get behind I get so unmotivated.

88. Are you depressed about anything? I feel like I’m sleep walking through my life sometimes, and depression takes away my ability to care enough to be motivated to do anything about it. I swear apathy is the worst side effect of depression for me! 

89. Do you like your age? It is honestly the best. I love being 30! I care less about the insecurities that consumed my life in my early 20s. I have more body confidence . I’m more secure financially than I’ve been at any point in my life. And I still feel youngish. Haha.

90. What makes you angry? White privilege, misogyny, Canadian and American politics, Christian people who don’t act loving and don’t seem bothered by it, when people don’t return their shopping carts in parking lots, when people can help others but don’t, cancer, narcissists.

91. Do you like your own name? I have always loved my name. I only know one other person with my name who spells it like me!

92. Did you ever get a foreign object up your nose? Odd question, no.

93. Do you want a boy or a girl for a child? I have a boy, and if I ever get the opportunity to have another kid I kinda hope its a girl. I’m really close with my mom so I always imagined having a daughter to hopefully be close with too. My son is a mini me in every way, though.

94. What talents do you have? I have a semi-photographic memory (so helpful for studying), I learn song lyrics super fast, I can sing any song for you in the correct key it was recorded in (what would you call that? pitch memorization?)

95. Sun or moon? I love sitting in a sunbeam like a cat. But the moon is super comforting to me. Both.

96. How did you get your name? My mom wanted me to have a different name in a sea of Ashley’s and Brittany’s (I was born in the late 80s).

97. Are you religious? My faith is very important to me and relates to all areas of my life, including my job, so yes? But I don’t feel like I need to be in your face about it, that’s not my style. 

98. Have you ever been to a therapist? Yes and honestly everyone on the planet could benefit from it! Its the best!

99. Color of your bedspread? White with blue and goldish flowers on it.

100. Color of your room? Light grey.

I feel like everyone already did this but all the same I’m going to tag @earlgreyteagirl, @reddie-to-mileven-it-up, @stevemossington, @maxmayfield and here’s some people who I know already did this but I want you to see my answers haha so here goes @hannahberrie @summer-in-hawkins @jane-el-hopper @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold @thezoomermax @puzzlingsnark @fatechica @mikeweezers

[irontechdollfactory]

Why Most Men Prefer Irontech Realistic Sex Dolls

Sex dolls are amazing. If you are tired of being alone and don’t want to put up with the bullshit of dealing with real women a sex doll may be your perfect partner. You may want to hang out with your friends on the weekend and then be able to come home without having someone threaten you with a break up or divorce for enjoying your favorite hobby with your buddies. So many men work hard and then they get treated like garbage by their partner.

If you have a realistic sex doll, she will not nag you and she will wait patiently for you to come home. If you choose, she will greet you with a smile and call you to bed where you can simply lay down with each other or where you can have sex. The sex can be passionate or the sex can be totally romantic. You can take her and pound her as hard as you can doggie style or you can have her mount you and let her gently rock back and forth on top of you.

The sex dolls market is growing at a fast pace and there are numerous sex dolls available in the market designed perfectly to meet the changing customer’s needs. With the development in technology, these realistic sex dolls are available in different shapes and sizes, and even customized depending upon the needs of the customer. This blog will discuss some top main reasons why men are buying these Realistic adult solid sex dolls and living the days of their lives.

AF doll is one of the best sex doll brands, it is also known as the world’s largest love doll brand. Realistic TPE sex dolls can easily arouse your sexual desire and are your best companion for bed rest activities. Specific skin tone, appearance, areola and intimacy can meet your requirements.

AF Doll is a well-known TPE sex doll manufacturer, and many people order sex dolls from AF every day. The price of AF sex dolls is lower than other brands, and the quality is very good. The products are updated very quickly. There are many body types, from 100cm to 180cm, from small breasts to big breasts, which one you like?

AF Doll has created a lot of sexy and beautiful sex dolls based on the characteristics of European and American porn stars. These sex dolls have perfect figures, big boobs, small waists, and plump ass. Every part of their body seems to attract you.

JY Doll is a leading supplier of TPE sex dolls based in Dongguan, China. It was established in 2012 and has 8 years of manufacturing experience. Their realistic sex dolls are very beautiful and realistic, and many popular sex dolls are from JY dolls.

Most of the realistic dolls made by JY doll are Asian sex dolls. The skin is fair, the breasts and buttocks are large, and the height is generally between 135cm-170cm. JY dolls are made of durable and realistic top TPE material, and many doll lovers like these sex dolls.

IRONTECH DOLL

Irontech dolls are one of the top ten brands in China, and sex dolls are mainly TPE sex dolls.

The skin of these dolls is close to the skin texture of real people. If you cover your eyes, you won’t even feel the difference between the vagina of the Irontech doll and the real vagina. The softness is exactly the same. It is also one of the best sex doll brands in the world. With a metal skeleton and delicate skin, this experience is real, and I don’t want to stop.

GYNOID DOLL

Gynoid Doll is a high-tech company that has developed in recent years. Their silicone sex dolls are becoming more and more popular. Gynoid sex dolls have realistic skin and soft bodies, and the experience is very good. Their most popular body styles are Gynoid model 9, model 7, model 10, model 11, model 12. The most popular silicone head is Gynoid laura, Gynoid li hui , Gynoid elina, They all have many good reviews in recent years.

Gynoid synthetic humanoid sex dolls are made of very advanced silicone material. Although the silicone material is harder than TPE, but Gynoid love doll uses the latest technology to make the silicone material feel as soft as TPE, and make the Gynoid real sex doll has the best experience.

All Gynoid Dolls are fully customisable and exquisite.

WM DOLL

WM dolls comes from Jinsan, the largest sex doll manufacturer, based in Guangdong Province, China. Doll is one of the most famous sex doll brands in the world. It is one of the earliest established sex doll brands, covering almost all kinds of sex dolls. WM dolls are customers’ favorites and are known for their excellent quality and details. WM sex dolls are made of high-quality TPE and silicone materials, which are both hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly. Their sex dolls are soft and real, and many people like their TPE love dolls.

REALISTIC SEX DOLL VS REAL WOMAN

Whether to invest in a realistic solid sex doll or not, that’s completely your choice. And your reason to do so is completely unique to you. Based on the experiences of sex doll owners and sex doll collectors across the globe, we have compiled the most extensive list of reasons that make sex dolls so desirable among men.

Fight depression and loneliness

Loneliness and depression are the two main problems that in the long-term lead to health issues like diabetes and heart diseases. These sex dolls can become a perfect companion during those lonely times and give you the pleasure you deserve. Unlike, humans these anime sex dolls will listen to your problems, never judge you, and most importantly always there to serve you whenever you need them. There are many instances when sex doll owners admitted that these dolls have helped in overcoming the most of worst phase in their life.

Realistic Sex Dolls Never Betray Your Trust And Leave For Another Man

Thanks to lack of emotions and very limited needs, once you bring your real doll home, it’s yours to keep forever. Unlike real women, no white Knight or men with money can lure her into deceiving you. With sex dolls, you don’t have any chance of infidelity. Your doll stays by your side in times of hardship and joy.

While being in a relationship, you have to be constantly insecure about being cheated on by your partner. As a result, you can never have the peace of mind you deserve. It is a nightmare for any man to learn that his partner is leaving him for someone she thinks is better.

Men who feel betrayed by their ex are very keen on investing in dolls. For they know these beautiful creatures will always be with them and no other person can ever convince them to leave them alone.

[allbeendonebefore]

What are your favourite head/canon things about Alberta

[cracks knuckles] [stretches fingers]

so i’ll just start with a disclaimer - i use sherry’s/iamp/whatever alberta and i realize ive been getting a lot of followers who are part of rp groups and whatever or people who might be interested in adding some depth to their own ocs so feel free to like… think about these things if you want if you’re thinking of doing an alberta oc?? I guess

so since that mysterious slash implies what are my fave canonical things about AB too I’ll say that there isn’t much- I go with what sherry says on canon rather than IAMP and PC because while there are a lot of things I had influence over in both projos there are a lot of things I would have done differently so we’ll start with the bio

Canon Stuff

literally all the things are accurate sooo its hard lol. Obviously the political situation has changed and the economic situation is its usual rollercoaster (WELL… but thats another time). I gotta say that the ‘alberta beef is the best thing that’s ever happened to me’ is really hitting home right now because i didnt realize how SPOILED i was by AAA beef until I got to Ontario ToT (ngl the pork here is super good and saves me money but the BEEF aAAA)

also my edmonton bias shines through at ‘he hates a part of himself called calgary’ thats by far my second fave B)))

Headcanon Stuff

ok where to start I will try to not make this an essay and i can elaborate more if you’re curious

- a lot of people will wonder about whether a province lives in the capital or the biggest city etc. and I have to say in Bertie’s case it is NEITHER. He’d never willingly live in (d)E(a)dmonton (sorry ed ilu) because Ed represents Government which he Hates and while he would spend a fair bit of time in Calgary he gets claustrophobic/exhausted - he still in my mind represents more of the rural bits of the province than the cities. I think he might move around a little, but he probably lives on a ranch between both cities but within sight of the mountains. I’m sure he has a place to stay in each city, but he’s a country boy at heart and appreciates his space, peace and quiet. 

- Particularly space because Where else is he going to keep his 3 trucks + 2 ATVs + horses + 100000 cows + boat + canoe + kayak + all his camping junk + motorbikes + dirtbikes + tractor + other junk that people leave at his place

- that said his ‘birthplace’ is the southern ‘half’ of the province so he tends to kind of hover around there more- as i said he owns a ranch rather than a farm because the Quality Ranch Land is in the south and the Good Farm Land is in the north (and being eaten up by ugly houses ugh)

- still I think he spends a fair amount of time working up north in the Fort Mac area because Why Not make All the money. Even if you’re a rancher boy in the middle of nowhere, everyone in this province has ties to the oil industry one way or another. It wouldn’t make sense for him NOT to work in Oil and Gas because it’s literally the only job in the province lmao.

- His driving playlist consists of: Dean Brody, Corb Lund, Keith Urban, Ian Tyson, and the obligatory Nickelback which he listens to Un-ironically but also to piss off/drown out passengers when they’re annoying him

- He’s easily annoyed. By Everything. And Everyone. He’s the current national scapegoat and he takes it Extremely Personally depending on the context but also he has a relatively affectionate relationship with everyone and usually expresses his affection by pointed jabs. 

- like he literally gets along with everyone on a personal level and not just because he buys them drinks- his worst relationships are probably with BC and Ontario and that’s just because he lives to irritate them and they respond with an appropriate amount of salt. He still doesnt mind hanging out with them and bc/ab/on/qc is an unstoppable team. He just gets extremely sensitive when anyone asks to borrow money from him and will give you an earful of ‘i work SO HARD for this money to put FOOD on YOUR TaBLe’

- generally really tight fisted with money………. only when other people are looking. he makes a big deal about how little he spends on essential services and you just look at him like ‘so you’re saying you have the money to get all this crap for this rodeo coming up but you dont have the money to take yourself to the hospital after’ and hes like [coughs up blood anime style] ‘im ok i have whiskey and benadryl at home’ [adjusts his diamond studded hat]

- really big on loyalty and straightforward conversations and has NO patience for any hypocrisy or doublespeak no matter how small. The slightest of things can send him reeling with Betrayal. Also this makes him either tight lipped or TMI, there is no in between. 

- like literally reeling he’s very top heavy and you could blow him over with a sneeze, he’s all bark and only some bite. When he’s good he’s Real Good but when he’s bad he’s like a foot in the grave bad

- he’s the baby of the prairie bros but also the one with the brains- and i don’t mean in an academic sense i mean in the ‘so crazy it just might work’ sense. 

- literally he’s an idiot he doesnt understand how equalization payments work no matter how many times you explain it to him. He doesn’t understand a lot of things re: the economy but he never shuts up about them. 

- the easiest way to piss him off is to threaten his autonomy in any way, he will stop whatever he’s doing to put a boot up yer ass if you Dare suggest something like ‘why don’t you let ontario/canada take care of that for you’ even if he knows the way he’s doing something is garbage he will go out of his way to keep doing it because its ‘my way or the highway’. 

- ‘why do you have all those guns’ ‘oh you know hunting deer and stuff’ [really its because he’s terrified a rat is going to sneak into his barn or something] [but he does actually hunt] [and he’s the type of guy to have the ‘trespassers will be shot’ signs]

- I haven’t figured out WHAT truck he drives yet but i am PROUD OF HIM for no longer putting truck nuts on it, THANK GOD that went out of fashion. (That said he does not have the stacks- his truck is lifted and Shiny and also has a handful of Alberta Strong decals/stickers.) Newf probably gave him a sticker of “The Rock” or a nfld flag and he Loves it. On a scale of most to least obnoxious trucks its Mac - Bert - Cal - Ed. It’s probably a white truck.

- i should think about things he loves more, this headcanon list is mostly things that make him angry oops xDD he loves animals a lot, and not just to eat i swear. The bigger and the more horns the better.

- he really loves driving a lot, it’s like a big part of his independence factor. I think sometimes he will just drive aimlessly late at night/early morning when it’s not busy and just go and find somewhere to look at the sky.

- he looooves digging up fossils in his spare time, or just interesting rocks in general. If you say the words animatronic dinosaur he is ALREADY THERE

- he watches a lot of sci fi and really loves star trek. So Much. he’s totally attempted mowing crop circles in his lawn/fields probably multiple times. he’s still waiting for the ufos to come land. Also has a thing for spooky places and cryptids and those weird inexplicable twilight-zone like events that only happen on road trips. did i mention the Giant Roadside Attractions. 

- he has this persona of being a traditional/small-and-big-c conservative but he’s actually really into innovation and trying new things, meeting new people, etc. He interacts with so many different people lately that he’s trying to take the time to really re-evaluate himself and move away from the Klein-era “Severely Normal People” image because it doesn’t reflect him. The issue is he’s more likely to vote on economy rather than social issues so his actual progressiveness gets hidden by lack of political representation (and lets be honest he has Always hated politics). He’s got a lot of crap to sort through but he catches people who underestimate him off guard.

- was probably raised methodist/protestant/whatever but is mostly pretty secular, but he has some definite strong holdovers that make him uncomfortable about certain subjects and his first reaction to being uncomfortable is always anger.

- completely oblivious to being hit on or something or really gay situations around him but is that type of person who is like [cant walk too close to another dude because what if it looks gay bro].

- his fave cow is named buttercup

- he has definitely woken up after a night out with friends naked and alone duct taped to an air mattress and floating in the middle of a lake. true story. 

- he will macgyver his way out of any situation. doesn’t mind getting down and dirty in the mud when it’s necessary. exactly the type of person to shove his hands in bitumen and squish it around or to pick up a rock and lick it or to shove a thermometer up a cow. When he gets squeamish he does his best to be bullheaded and pretend like Nothing is Wrong until he faints. 

- his french is crap but he Tries- the french he knows is backwater northern AB french which he’s too shy to bring up so he feigns ignorance. His german is good and his ukrainian is passable, his spanish is fine, he’s trying to get the hang of some other languages but doesn’t tell anyone he’s practicing because he hates getting made fun of xD

- the hat and boots are Absolutely to make him look taller than he actually is. He doesn’t wear inserts but he does make sure the sole/heel on any boot he buys is Thick. Smol insecure man with a Big hat. Will spend 300 bucks on shoes, but he actually does ride/work so its an investment for him. 

- heads to Arizona/Mexico in the winter when he’s not working, otherwise Banff/Jasper are his ‘budget’ vacations lol. 

i love this stupid province pls ask if you have any more questions because i love to talk and i feel like i’ve said too much already lol

[feverhalo]

Ok so. Big talky post about irl shit in all forms because why not & i feel bad leaving you all hanging so long on so much

Please dont r///ebl/////og and theres no pressure to read it or do anything in regards to this.

So. This covers like. So many topics. Grief and death and mental health being the biggest warnings for

Average news first. I still have my job and have been there officially for a year now! Pay rates are going up in my province, and thats a new solid reference should i need it any time soon. Theyre also beong really understanding and compromising(? Forgot theword i had originally) and letting me try new jobs/places to reduce stress

I found out yes, i am still allergic to peanut butter if the fact that i had really annoying stomach pain for h o u r s after eating a teeny tiny pb cookie is anything to go by. Didnt really pay attention to if i broke out on my sides or not because i was a little preoccupied with curling up tightly and feeling a little off the next day too. (I mean no duh what did i expect to happen but i mean. They smelled so good). Lesson learned.

Bad news

ive touched on but i dont think ever really said. Someone very very close to me passed in late summer and im still devistated and torn up and doing my denial/anger thing for the most part. Its. Not easy. But ive been going to see someone, admittedly its become a bit about everything when it was supposed to just be this, but i dont do death. When i was a kid and lost someone i shut down entirely and aside from angry outbursts and the occasional breakdown i tried my hardest to act like there was not and would never be a hole there. It didnt work well at all and im still affected by that person's passing too.

They were also one of the more supportive people in my life and i spent a lot of time reading and writing and creating in their company and its been hard.

And i know that im handling this a little better even though im still skipping out on things and blowing up and all the same sort of crap but i actually have a neutral space that wont feel marked or stained every day for processing and a neutral person to help.

And of course its not just grief im getting help with because its all kind of a tangled mess. But im also getting like. New insight on stuff and someone to talk to about whatever. And its making life quite a bit harder because im so used to blocking it out or locking myself away and letting things rush over and take over and run their course. Its been really hard to be creative because im incredibly self critical and having a lot more trouble focusing lately because of a lot of reasons.

Im stressed and overwhelmed a lot more easily and frequently right now. And i know im being distant even if it doesnt show. Im scared to kind of go along with this and open up and all that junk and now im being gently prodded to do so in short, honest (not just stuff i dont rly care about or stuff callously overshared to just pretend im being open) bursts its kind of freaking me out. But like. Itll all end up for something good i hope. Even though it feels awful right now and ive had stints of days or even a full week with supports on speed dial when i havent been able to calm down or shut off over thinking but thats- i mean i expect it. A lot is happening and ive known for years my coping strategies have been lacking.

Ive also been talking with this outside help and weve toyed with the idea of maybe i really do have add or at least my anxiety manifests similarly and its kind of a which came first- and this ties in to the next good part in a second- but i havent scheduled anything in my area for right now for those sorts of things but im still kind of getting new ideas from a different angle that might maybe help and if i dont then im learning things i still may be able to use. Either way its not a huge deal for the current moment and its a bit if trying to find compassion and acceptance for myself whether its thing a or b or neither but whatever

Good, great, best news!!

I have an in to starting the more physical process of transitioning. Like i have a day and a time and a start. Like really really really soon. Its going to be hard i know because im going to have to open up about things and will probably be told i have to wait until i can stablize a bit more- its been a lot happening in a short while. And i understand. I waited 2 years to hear from them, i waited a few years to reach out to them, and i unknowingly waited years to find new words that struck a chord and all that. So as long as its moving i can deal with the wait.

I have GOOD people (many i know and have known for years now who happen to work in an adjacent field, some who are new and yet to be met but have rly good references if that makes sense?) who are going to help me kind of navigate and understand and undo things i thought i learned that were honestly just veiled hate and scare tactic garbage. People who support me and dont push me past what i am comfortable with undergoing to "prove" anything (such as 'if you didnt do x right away youre lying/if you dont do y surgery first i wont believe you' kind of comments. I hope). Im looking into options and im so excited for it!!

Its going to involve a lot of talking about things and probably a lot i dont want to talk about just yet but its a great chance because it gets me officially connected and officially started and this place has more options than my town and more specialized crap that can detangle and work through all the connected things and it can all be lumped together as the same process and hopefully help financially that way- and time wise unbelieveably. Theres a very good chance ill be able to talk with someone there, and very likely that first appointment, who can help me understand why i work the way i do sometimes for whatever reason it is.

And im getting a lot of positivity and lessons like learning to give myself some slack where it matters and stuff like that. And that im not worthless or stained or going to rot other people- which is honestly uncomfortable for me to think because of how long ive thought the opposite. Like to think i may actually be pretty good like not pretend good and actually worth anything at all. Because i got stuck in bad thoughts since i was small.

Im also thinking on trying to go back to school because i have a lot i think about with nowhere to really put it and nothing to do which doesnt help me do the things i want to do. So maybe something like that would help because i like learning. I like the motions of it- writing and reading with intent to understand something new, the routine as much as i whined about it in highschool, the forced kind of proximity to people living apart from what i know entirely too so the world feels bigger in a tangible way. Thats on a back burner and waiting for sure! But the fact im thinking about it and happily thinking about it? I like that.

My life has been. Kind of a combination of bland as hell and busy if that makes sense. Ive had to sort of shut down outward productivity and cut down on things a bit because so much is going on, and im trying to do a lot as paced and as slowly as i can bear.

And even though im not Here here as much as i want to be and everything its just. Kind of time for this. And im so glad and happy that when i can be here i can see that people still like what ive done and theres always awesome content to see and yeah

Thanks for everything and checking in and i really really am looking forward to moving forward.

[lambangseptiawn]

A Bunch of Stories in PK-159

Have you ever been staying in a certain place for a while and breaking your own length of stay record? Actually, I just did it 3 weeks ago in Jakarta. I went to Jakarta for attending the Pre-Departure Briefing (Persiapan Keberangkatan/PK. Further, I will use the term “PK”) from LPDP. The event just took 5 days for sure, but I stayed in Jakarta for almost 12 days (even it was not consecutively) due to several prior preparations before the main event. Twelve days were such a new record because I had never been staying in Jakarta for more than 3 days. Further, I will tell you about my detailed story. Hopefully, you will enjoy it!

Before starting, I would like to give an overview of PK. PK is a compulsory event to be attended for LPDP awardee candidates. It is such an upgrading quarantine that has an aim to strengthen the relationship amongst the awardee candidates. Fortunately, I gathered together in PK-159 which has 197 members. I said lucky because PK-159 had a privilege to be held at the beginning of 2020. Our PK was held on 2nd – 6th March 2020 at Mercure Convention Center, North Jakarta.

Even though it took a date at the beginning of March, I went to Jakarta on  24th February 2020 and arrived on the following day. Perhaps, you have a question, “Why are you so diligent?”. No, definitely I am not diligent at all. The reason why was because our team has to prepare the social project and I just wanted to help them. Besides PK as the main event, we had also to create a social project that can give an impact on society. And you can guest, our social project was held 2 days before the main event. Consequently, we had to prepare all of the stuff in late February.

Social Project: A Challenge For Sustainability

We started the social project preparation on Wednesday, 25th February. Our social project took place in Situ (Lake) Babakan, South Jakarta, with Sustainable Tourism as the main theme. Our preparation was about fixing the venue and following up on the stakeholders to be involved in the event. On that day, I just saw a few people who put together in the preparation section. Most of them were the PK leaders who live in Jabodetabek. Moreover, several group members (including me) also, attend the meeting to help to prepare the event. However, almost all of the people had a prominent role in the team, for instance as the field executor or coordinator in certain sub-event. It is different with me. Frankly, I was just a follower and did not have an important role in the social project event hahaha.

Unfortunately, I could not stay any longer in the social project preparation day. It was because the PK invitation letter from LPDP had just released on Wednesday morning. Consequently, I had to return to Jogja for preparing my belongings and then came back again to Jakarta on Saturday to attend the social project and the following PK day. Before I left, my friends (called Ade and Iqbal) and I ate together in a small restaurant nearby The Situ Babakan. At the moment, we got presents from the owners because Iqbal asked them why was it so many Husni Kamil Malik’s (The Former Leader of Indonesian Election Commission/KPU) photos at the restaurant. Surprisingly, the restaurant was built underneath The Husni Kamil Malik’s Foundation. Then, the owners gave us books for remembering him and we were so pleased. “You know, Bro? We just already brought books and got a free meal here” Iqbal said to me.

The social project day came! On that day, I just arrived in Jakarta on Saturday morning. And as you know, I did not have time to take a bath and without any consideration promptly went to Situ Babakan by bus (the committee provided us chartered buses). It was at 8 am when the buses just touched down in Situ Babakan. There were so many people out there. All of them wore a black outfit which has a big logo of Gardhika Khatulistiwa, our group name. Therefore, I changed my shirt and bounded with the crowd.

We had several sub-events that day, started from opening ceremony with the stakeholders, (garbage) clean up movement around the lake, solar panel and signage installation, waste recycling and composting education, and also made wall mural figure in several sites. Definitely, I did not put together in all of those, but I got more portion in making wall mural figure. My job was simple; just painted the wall with a certain color. Sounds ridiculous ya hahaha. After that, the mural artists would make several figures which portrayed the Betawi Culture.

I think the event was succeeded because It got lots of appreciation from many authorities. However, I have been thinking about what’s next? Sometimes I am afraid when this project is not sustainable. Do you know why? Every year, LPDP accommodates approximately 20 PK groups. It means there will be 20 social projects as well. In this case, every group has its own authorities to choose where and what will they do with the social project. The prominent problem is when the groups did not pay attention to the previous events.  Eventually, it could cause a missing link amongst the previous social projects that can make them become unsustainable. In my opinion, it would be better if several groups could continue the previous one and make it perfectly better. It is quite similar to The Student Comunity Empowerment Program (KKN) concept which has at least 5 consecutive periods of contract (annually one period). This concept is reliable particularly to pursue program sustainability.

The Main Event: New Experiences, New Stories

The important day came. At that time, 197 awardee candidates from PK-159 would gather together at least for 5 days ahead. As I said before, we came from various backgrounds. The most interesting fact is that our PK has the biggest number of doctoral candidates amongst the others. Surprisingly, some of them are still young ages. I met with a young man under 30 years old who just finished his master's degree in Sydney. Now, he prepares for his doctoral degree in the same university. Besides, I also met with 2 visually impaired disabled young girls who have remarkable talent. One of them is a writer who just published several books. The rest one is a teacher and also a founder of the education house for visual impairment disabled children in Sumatera.

Besides from the awardee candidates, I also got many lessons particularly from the public figures who came to be the main speakers. In 5 days, I met with well known and sophisticated figures, for instance, Ganjar Pranowo (The Governor of Central Java Province), Ahmad Fuadi (The writer of Negeri 5 Menara), Edwin Manangsang (The Former Personel of Trio Libels and Bureaucrat in The Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs), Amalia Maulana (Founder and Manager of Etnomark Consulting), Adnan Pandu Praja (The Former Leader of Indonesian Corruption Eradication (KPK) RI), Prof. Terry Mart (Scientist from Universitas Indonesia), Brigjen Hamli (National Agency for Combating Terrorism), and Andreas Sanjaya (CEO iGrow). They spoke in the different themes which were correlating with their expertise, for instance about integrity, academic writing, personal branding, social and environmental awareness, and also professionalism.

I had a profound impression with all of the speakers because I got a myriad of new knowledge. Nevertheless, I have one favorite section when Ahmad Fuadi came and gave us a lesson about how to change the world with our writings. I never thought that I would meet with one of the best writers in Indonesia like Ahmad Fuadi. That was absolutely interesting when he gave a quiz to make a simple paragraph by using a scrambled world. All of the awardee candidates were excited I think. Suddenly, Ahmad Fuadi asked some of us to read loudly our paragraph. He was surprised and told us that we had a good talent to be a writer. “You can arrange your own book. Just, at least, one book in your entire life” he said.

Every day, we had to wake up before the sunrise because the first class would be held at 5 am. Further, we should also manage our sleep time because the last class used to be ended at 11 pm or even midnight. Even though, on the 4th days (Thursday), we got an outdoor activity. It was quite different from the previous classes where we just had to sit down and paid attention to the speakers. In the outdoor activity, we would be taken to a certain place outside Jakarta to refresh our minds. But, the problem was on Wednesday, the last class was ended almost half past midnight while we had to prepare ourselves before 4 am. If one of us was late, it was absolutely terrible because he or she will fail and has to attend the next PK. Fortunately, I woke up 30 minutes before the deadline even I fell asleep before. I was dreaming for almost 1 hour until I heard my alarm rang. How lucky I am.

Our outdoor activity took place in Sukabumi, West Java. It was raining when we arrived at the outdoor location. So, after did the fajr worship, we prepared our stuff because we would go down to the river to do rafting sport. We prepared our stuff for almost 2 hours because the coaches needed to explain some rules before we took action. Every group (contains about 5-6 people) will be accompanied by a coach as the leader. Our job was simple; just follow the leader’s instructions and do not be panic amid the journey.

Clik this link to see the video: https://lambangseptiawn.tumblr.com/post/613581138367250432/in-case-you-want-to-see-how-my-friends-and-i-rowed

Frankly, it was my first time rafting and I was pleased. Sometimes, I have been thinking why did not I try to take adventurish or specific interest sports like this to be my refreshment activity rather than futsal or jogging. It was appealing to see beautiful river sceneries from the boat even I had to drink river water for many times when our boat hit the river stream. But, I think the route we took was quite short even the coach told us we just rowed for 7 km far. He also told us that there is a farther route which has 12 km length. It is the most challenging one he said because it contains various swifts and streams. Someday if there is an occasion, it is surely interesting to come back and push my adrenaline with this route hehe.

The PK event must be done on Friday afternoon. It was exhausting 5 days but I was glad to be there. The main event was ended with a farewell iconic song from Endank Soekamti; Sampai Jumpa. We were holding on to each other while saying goodbye. Some of us were crying and taking a photo together before went to our own motherland.

I do believe that someday, the members of PK-159 would be able to give more tangible contributions to this country. I also believe that several of the members would be the speakers for the next PK, maybe about 10-20 years later. While waiting for that moment come true, let’s evolve together, mate! I know our next way, especially for me, might be hard. Just hoping that our study will be smooth and we can cope with all the circumstances that might hinder our future journey.

Thank you very much PK-159 Gardhika Khatulistiwa!

Bunch of thanks and deep appreciation for LPDP!

And Indonesia, aku pasti mengabdi!

Yogyakarta, 25th March 2020

(This writing is composed in my 10th self-quarantine days to fight against COVID-19)

[cadpadawan]

What a time to be alive!

On March 11 2020 the World Health Organization declared that the outbreak of a viral disease, with a name similar to a certain brand of light beer, had reached the level of a global pandemic. In the panic reaction, that ensued the reports about the number of the infected, the mass demand on toilet paper and instant noodles skyrocketed on an intergalactic scale. As I let this sink in, it becomes increasingly clear that not even the best of stand-up comedians could have made this shit up!

A great deal of the recent public narrative has focused on the importance of social distancing, and something as surreal as the correct hand washing technique. It turns out, that an acute and extremely violent diarrhea is not a typical symptom of this disease. So, even in the most unfortunate case, that I would become infected with this novel coronavirus-thingy, it wouldn't be exactly the most rational manouver to stockpile 500 rolls of toilet paper, in preparation for a two-week isolation period. Unless, of course, I happened to have some weird pre-existing medical condition that would force me to poop runny and fluid shit non-stop in this doomsday bunker of mine. So far, I haven't been diagnosed with such a syndrome, not that I know of, anyway.

Of course...

There is always the chance, that the universe had a special treat preserved just for me, for a special occassion, like this:

SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!

As for the counter-measures...I have actually practiced the noble art of social distancing and personal hygiene long before it started trending. You see, I'm not exactly a people's person. I'm more like one of those ”mind your own business and fuck off!”-persons. And coming to think of it... What kind of person does NOT wash hands after taking a shit, anyways?!?

Seriously, though...Now the University of Applied Sciences, where I am currently studying mechanical engineering, has also closed doors. The University administration had the forethought to do so in advance, a week before the Finnish government ordered all schools to go online. The ongoing product development school project is pretty easy to execute online, luckily. So, in this respect, this global panic should not compromise my studies that much. I'm quite self-disciplined, so this sudden change of plans did not exactly freak me out. I think I have the emotional strenght to focus on this school project, despite the fact that it would be much more pleasant to binge on alcoholic beverages and PS4 for the next couple of weeks. On a side note, I've been playing the novelty PS4 game Death Stranding for a few months now. Suddenly, the dystopian atmosphere of the game does not seem that far-fetched. We are turning into something similar to the game's isolated prepper characters. (Or, to be more to-the-point, I doubt there ever was a time when humanity was truly connected – when there was no physical barriers, we built the barriers in our minds, that's for sure...)

While conducting an in-depth online research into the topic of the school project, I also went through the trouble of getting the facts straight about the coronavirus via some quality sources of information. Let's face it: social media does not qualify as such. If I was dumb enough to take the corona-garbage in my Facebook newsfeed seriously, it would mean that this COVID-19 outbreak was either:

1) a punishment from a narcissistic god, on the grounds that humanity is a bunch of ungrateful little shits, wallowing in a cesspool of sin – homosexuality, gender equality and veganism, in particular.

2) a pre-emptive strike in the forth-coming WW3, conducted by a biological weapon that was engineered in some top-secret level-5 security military lab in Wuhan, China.

3) A dick move played on the Jumanji-board, that some douchebag accidentally came across in the estate of his deceased grandmother.

4) A Black Death reconstruction executed by the aliens responsible for this shit show simulation.

So, what the actual fuck is this coronavirus, then?

We are witnessing the triumph of an infectious disease, that is caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2). The COVID-19 monicker seems to stand for a novel CO-rona-VI-rus D-isease that emerged in 2019.

Coronaviruses are fairly common in the animal kingdom, although, this novel coronavirus seems to be one of a kind, that has not been previously detected. If I asked my internet friends here, they would probably say something along the lines of ”I'm not saying it was aliens...but it was aliens!”

Either that, or Mother Nature just wants to kill us all?

The source of the virus is not yet fully known. The latest findings suggest all kinds of bat-related stuff. So, I guess it would be fairly safe to assume, that the world has now officially gone bat shit crazy? The year 2020 will be forever remembered as the Great Pandemic of toilet paper hoarding. Officially, the common symptoms of COVID-19 include high fever, dry coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue paired with muscle and joint pain. No mention of convulsive diarrhea anywhere. Are the government officials withholding some crucial information, in the best dystopian fashion? I guess it would prove pretty hard to maintain morale, if the public was told that we are going to dive in some deep shit, in the most literal meaning of the expression.

Well, I didn't stock up on emergency supplies.

I'm a student with no budget, for fuck's sake. I live from one government hand-me-down to the next, or as we say in Finnish: ”kädestä suuhun”. It literally means ”from hand to mouth”. I could not possibly afford to stockpile shitload of TP or anything else, for that matter. Not that I even wanted to. I find it extremely hard to believe, that the world is going to run out of toilet paper any time soon...or...if a single drop of bat guano is going to collapse all civilization as we know it, then...maybe all this so-called ”civilization” is not so civilized to begin with... From a bystander's view, this onslaught of basic human stupidity, that this pandemic seems to have released upon us, makes it fairly easy to relate to the idea, that Mother Nature really wants us all dead. Maybe...just maybe...the real virus that is threatening all lifeforms on this blue planet is human, not some small agent that replicates inside the cell of an organism. After millennias of gang-bang-thank-you-Ma’m it's payback time?

Whatever the case, it's peculiar that, at this point, the virus seems to have entered Europe via Italy. Well, it still remains to be confirmed, but...if this actually proves to be the case, it would bear an uncanny resemblance to another historical pandemic from way back – the Black Death, that swepth across Europe in the 14th century. Well, y'know...history on repeat etc...

The Black Death, a.k.a. The Great Bubonic Plague, was the first major outbreak of a pandemic on the European continent. It probably originated somewhere along the Mongol conquest of China, due to a pathogen spillover event. Such an event most likely took place somewhere in the Hubei province in China in late 2019. A reservoir population with a high pathogen prevalence, like maybe some killer bats from outer space, or a secret military lab, came into contact with a novel and unsuspecting host population – the ordinary chinese folks doing some grocery shopping at the local market.

Back in the day, the war-mongering Mongols obviously had no clue about the correct hand washing technique, or cough etiquette. The plague spread like wildfire among the troops. It was caused by a bitchy pathogen, a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. Eventually, the pathogen traveled down the Silk Road to the seaports of Europe, among the Mongol army. To be precise, the pathogen was actually carried by fleas that black rats were infested with. When the Mongol armies arrived at Europe, things got a bit gruesome. Djanibek Khan was the commander of a massive Crimean tatar force, that sieged the port city of Kaffa in 1348. By conducting a somewhat brutal manouver in biological warfare, Djanibek Khan's troops catapulted infected corpses over the city walls. A few infected Genoese traders managed to escape – and introduced the Black Death onto Italian soil. The rest is history.

Ok, let's assume the internet scholars, religious freaks and conspiracy theorists were right for once. Why does the entry point always have to be Italy?

It's almost as if the history of mankind wanted to suggest, that God had some serious bone to pick with the Italians. What have the Italians done in the past, that seems to have compromised the cosmic balance so seriously?

Luigi, you did not by any chance place a slice of pineapple on the pizza, did you?!?

Ever since the Dark Ages, politically motivated monoteistic religions have always blamed normal people for any kind of disasters. The concept of God's mercy is convenient in such a way, that premature death in the hands of any natural disaster would automatically grant an instant VIP-entrance to the delights of afterlife paradise, for a beliver, whereas for a non-believer it most certainly would mean a severe charcoal-grilled punishment in the never-ending flames of hell. In this respect, these so-called Abrahamic religions have not really changed in the last 4000 years. If history can teach us only one thing, it would be: the vast majority of mankind is actually dumb as shit.

So, what can I do?

Not much, except keep avoiding stupid people, as usual, and keep washing my hands as if I had a severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yeah, I'll just keep focus on my studies. Whenever I need a break from the depths of mechanical engineering, I'll just check on the news to see the most recent updates in this global shit show. It's funny, when I read about the history of mankind, I can't help but think, that my ancestors must have been of a special kind of stupid in many ways, indulging in a behaviour that was harmful to themselves in the long term. As I watch the stupidity of mankind unfolding right before my very eyes, I feel the occassional urge to book the next flight to Northern Italy and start licking doorknobs in the local supermarkets, relentlessly. Maybe I could wash the sour taste from my mouth with an ice-cold Corona beer, with a slice of lime in it. The path of glory has been well-defined, like aeons ago. The issue has always been how to bring everyone along for the ride. With the general attitude being ”Me first & The Gimmie Gimmies” (the best band name ever, by the way!), we're heading towards the biggest butt-fuck in the history of humanity. Maybe we'd be better off hoarding lubricant, instead of toilet paper?

[gregolry]

1 to 69 and also 70

thank u I made a playlist instead of working on my finals

1. A Song you’re ashamed of liking

None, all music is good and great2. Favourite lyrics

Constant Surprises (Little Dragon)3. Favourite band/artist

Probably Paramore or Janelle Monae based off of time listened/lyrics known etc.4. Top 5 Favourite songs at this moment

These aren’t really my favorite songs at all but they’re the ones I’ve been listening to this week.

Mystery of Love (Sufjan Stevens), Don’t Act Like A Stranger (Cathedrals), If It’s a Light (Mavis Staples), Dim All The Lights (Donna Summer), I Belong To You (Brandi Carlile)5. Latest song that made you smile

Psychic City – Classixx Remix(YACHT)6. An overrated band

Don’t @ me but Fall Out Boy7. An overrated song

Really most of the songs from the above band8. Latest song that made you cry

Send in the Clowns (Glynis Johns)9. Artist/band that saved your life

None but also let’s say Carole King, she got me through a time10. If you could see any band/artist live, who would it be

Paramore11. What song/album/band/artist always brings back memories for you

Katy Perry’s album One Of The Boys always puts me exactly where I was every time I ever listened to it.12. saddest song you know

Silver Springs (Fleetwood Mac)13. Favourite song to sing in the shower

Really anything by Fleetwood Mac but probably Dreams14. If you played an instrument in grade school, what was it

Piano~15. What song would you like to have your first dance to at your wedding

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (Carole King)16. 5 Songs to have sex to

None but also it depends on the mood but probably something by Arctic Monkeys (Dangerous Animals comes to mind)17. One band you’d have get back together/bring back from the dead

This doesn’t really count I guess but PWR BTTM with different members who weren’t garbage? Like take that concept and that exact sound and give it to people who weren’t pieces of shit.18. You’re forced to listen to only one album for the rest of your life, what album is it

Carole King’s Tapestry or Paramore’s After Laughter19. A song that gets you through shit

Cry, Cry, Cry (Judith Hill)20. A song to shut everything out

Any song really 21. A song that’s a joke between you and your friends

Anything by Creed

22. A song to jam out to at 4am

Janglin (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros)23. A song that punches you in the gut every single time

You Were Meant For Me (Jewel)24. A song that calms you down

Thunder Love (Little Dragon)25. A song that makes you feel alive

Q.U.E.E.N. (Janelle Monae)26. If you could get any lyrics tattooed, which would you choose

Tbh Something from the above song27. What band/artist would you get your children addicted to at an early age

You know good and well my children will be listening to Janelle Monae all day28. Can you play any instruments, if so, which

Piano and anything piano adjacent that follows the same rules29. If you could be a member of any band for one show, who would it be

That’s too much pressure30. CDs or Vinyls

Digital…31. 25 songs to play at your funeral

Just play What’s New Pussycat on repeat32. What are some song titles that you love

It Hurts Until It Doesn’t (Mothers) and their album title “When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired”33. If your life ended today, what song would you choose to represent it

See Above34. Can you give me a 10 song playlist on ____

No35. A heart wrenching song

Un-Break My Heart (Toni Braxton)36. A band/artist you’re proud of

Paramore because why not they’re doing a good job37. A song that has a lot of meaning to you

As You Are (Kimbra)38. A song that reminds you of school

Right As Rain (Adele) (not for any specific reason other than it played a lot on my way to class from high school to now)39. A song not sung in your native language

Palabra clasica (Florencia Nunez)40. An instrumental song

Whoacean (Yesway)41. A classical song

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 (Beethoven)42. A song with no percussion

Want My Love (Cathedrals)43. Something you’ve heard performed live

Mardy Bum (Arctic Monkeys)44. Something you’d give ANYTHING to hear performed live

I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Whitney Houston) (assuming this would involve dark magic rituals of some sort)45. A song from a band/artist that’s from your town/city/state/province

Keep Lying (Donna Missal)46. A song made suddenly precious because of a special someone

*shrug emoji* (that’s a lie but I can’t say)47. A song made suddenly painful because of someone special

*shrug emoji* (probably the same answer as above though)48. A song that demands lip syncing and a makeshift microphone

Real Love (Mary J. Blige)49. A song from a band/artist you met/know

*shrug emoji*50. A song that you would rock at karaoke

I’m The Only One (Melissa Etheridge)51. A song you can’t help but dance to

One Of The Boys (Katy Perry)52. A song that makes you want to dance on a table

Do My Thing (Estelle feat. Janelle Monae)53. Your 10 song striper playlist

Just What’s New Pussycat 10 times54. Favourite Disney song

Snuff Out the Light (Eartha Kitt) (It was never in the movie and that’s a damn shame)55. A song that starts with the first letter of your name

Change Of Coast (Neon Indian)56. A song from an artist still alive

400 Lux (Lorde)57. A song from an artist who’s dead

I’ll Be Seeing You (Billie Holiday)58. A song you love by an artist/band you hate

*shrug emoji* I guess anything by PWR BTTM because the band is garbo but their music was good59. A song you love with a colour in the title

Rose-Colored Boy (Paramore)60. A song you love with a number in the title

One For The Road (Arctic Monkeys)61. A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about

Raja Vocative (The Mountain Goats)62. A song that needs to be played LOUD

Square Biz (Teena Marie)63. A song that makes you think about life

Oh My God (Ida Maria)64. 15 Songs that get suck in your head easily

What’s New Pussycat 15 times65. A song that you think everyone should listen to

That’s Alright (Laura Mvula)66. A song that makes you want to fall in love

As the World Falls Down (Girl In A Coma)67. A song that makes you think about ‘him/her’

They All Want You (Lissie) (tbh.. mood)68. A song that you remember from your childhood

Say You’ll Be There (Spice Girls)69. A song that reminds you of you

It Hurts Until It Doesn’t (Mothers)70. Okay what’s the real answer to number 1

Still true

[module3yacat]

Brgy. Mambangnan: DRRM

December 1, 2019-- I went back home to my beloved barangay at our municipality, San Leonardo in the green and peaceful province of Nueva Ecija to know more about how the smallest groups of local government perceive, know, act and prepare for inevitable and inevitable disasters our humble baranggay may face.

By pure luck, I managed to get an interview with Councilor Juvy Sevilla when I came to the brgy. she was really accommodating and understood why I am conducting such activity and as a bonus, I found out that she is somehow my aunt! now that really surprised me hahaha.

She Identified two major disasters that have fallen upon the brgy. Typhoons which are the most frequent naturally because of the location of the country and Earthquakes which rarely happens but knock on wood does not because almost every house and building in the municipality are not equipped to withstand strong tremors. LGU is responsible for orienting, informing and teaching the local government beforehand to be as prepared as possible for the incoming disaster. Naturally, the country experiences countless typhoons every year but mostly, the brgy. experiences two to four heavy rainfall each year ranging from signals 2 mostly and that is capable of bringing substantial problems for the community.

Our place is also identified as quite vulnerable keeping in mind that majority of the land expanses in N.E. are flat, meaning nothing to act as a barrier and hopefully soften the strike of disasters (mostly typhoons). After disasters, she said that homes near the river suffer the most along with the farmers and fishermen that reside there. Elements most vulnerable are the crops and houses of the people that are found in the lower class of the society which make up most of the population of the citizens in the brgy. Post-calamity, she said that the slow and incompetent system of the higher government is the main reason why the community still finds it hard and will continue to find it hard to recover fast and effectively.

Mambangnan still has a long ways to go in terms of being prepared for disasters let alone managing it’s pre and post effects. Councilor Sevilla described to me pretty primitive ways of coping and managing disasters but they say they do beyond what they can with the budget and instructions they are given. some examples of what they do are preparing relief goods, securing rescue equipment and securing the evacuation area. The best program and system that the brgy. has is the proper segregation and cleaning of garbage. I for one have seen pretty good progress in the way people throw their garbage because back when I was in elementary, I made quite a name for myself for scolding or degrading every one whom I see throwing trash unresponsively even my own parents. I am glad to see that people are paying much more attention on what the effects of their actions are. Lastly, the brgy. has the Brgy. Captain to lead the way when there are disasters but she cannot stress enough that everything is a collective effort from everyone in the community.

The river is the most dangerous place in the brgy. because it easily floods and destroys virtually everything when the rains come. Causing problems for both the ecosystem and the people who depend on the river for livelihood. But even when there is no rain, the formation of the soft, sticky and heavy mud shapes the current in to strong, dangerous and scary rapids, that is why it has also claimed many lives of the locals especially curious kids and teenagers.

The brgy. hall which also doubles as the evacuation center is the safest place in the brgy. it is equipped with cctvs and under the supervision of leaders 24/7

The best practice for the community is the implementation of strict segregation of garbage, though it is still not 100% effective, the river has no garbage at all (which was the main cause of floods for the residents in brgy Rizal to Mambangnan) and making impressive progress. And I think that just goes to show that if we want to be as comfortable as possible, we need to prevent rather than have headaches trying to fix it’s effects post-disaster.

From a completely subjective point of view, I think that the issue that my community faces and honestly, I don’t know if it will ever escape it is “Corruption” Every head in the local government is corrupt no matter what level. Another thing I find problematic is the lack of intuition from the residents themselves. The best thing I can say to address this is just to simply be honest and not let your negative conscience get the better of you.

In relation to how my community responds to calamity, I think it is very similar for every place in the country well in the exception of Davao which I can honestly say has one of the best and competent leaders and systems, because I think the government sees that their solutions for coping with disaster is the best to offer when in reality it should be different for every place in the Philippines. To add insult to injury, the local government also thinks this way, seeing the ways and words of the government are perfect and should be abided without any questions asked.

I realized that it is hard to execute what the current people of the brgy. are doing but I just can’t help to say that as long the leaders are incompetent, it will reflect perfectly towards the community. For example, the road a few blocks away from our houses still has not been fixed, and fyi I left it exactly like that on September, and it’s December now and nothing changed, oh rather it only got worse.

We need to address the issues of disasters in our country because it is our responsibility. Who else will love our country more that us? understand it better than us? The best thing I can say is look at our environment as ourselves and with that way of thinking, wouldn't we want ourselves to look the best we can? be as clean as can be? and be as pleasing/ presentable as possible?

As a student who is filled with hopes and ideas, I can say the best I can do is to make people realize these important facts for the betterment of the community and in turn, the country. I can also empower people to act and set the crooked things straight and on the right path. I firmly believe that we Filipinos are more capable that what we currently see and I see those in the youth in all honesty. If the youth are empowered at a young age, they can transcend those emotions and ideas in to something spectacular that it may make people cry(not me though)

[go-redgirl]

Care About Impeachment When They Have 67 Senators 

Kurt Schlichter|Posted: Oct 28, 2019 12:01 AM

Can you count, suckers? I say, the future is ours...if you can count. Because if you can count, you can see where this entire impeachment kangaroo court is hopping to. You can see how this will all end. You can see that we are going to mop the floor with these petty fascist cretins.

Can you dig It!

Actually, I didn’t come up with the counting line – Walter Hill put those words in the mouth of gang overlord Cyrus in the amazing film The Warriors. It’s a movie that resonates today for a number of reasons, especially how it depicts a bunch of New York tough guys being framed and persecuted for a crime they did not commit. Everyone is against them – everyone. But they ruthlessly fight back against the entire establishment, which has turned all its power against them, and they eventually prevail. Sounds a little familiar, huh?

My money is on Donald Trump, the warrior. Not just because he knows the enemy better than anyone else, and because for nearly five years he has beaten the enemy every single time, but because I can count.And what I count to is a number that is less than 67. 

That’s the number of traitors to the Constitution you would need in the Senate to convict. 67. But right now, the count is about 50, maybe 49, or even 47 or 48. That’s the number of unAmerican creeps in the Senate who would vote to convict when the garbage Democrats in the house pass their garbage articles of garbage impeachment.

So, liberal elite, until you can count to 67, eat Schiff and die.We got a preview of the final tally this week when Lindsey Graham, who is all at once the most awesome and most useless of GOP senators, took a break from both non-stop TV gigs talking big and from not holding hearings on this abomination to actually do something marginally interesting – getting signatures for a resolution making GOP senators go on record against this Democrat lynching, as if there’s ever been any other kind. 

And yeah, I called it a lynching.

 I’ll say anything I please. I know, I know, we can’t use that word and Democrats can because it truly is “their word,” since Democrats did all the lynching and blocked the anti-lynching laws. 

But before you pinkos wet yourselves, remember that I’m just channeling your buddy Joe Biden. 

Next, I’d like to channel his son, Hoover, and get 50K a month from Slavic oligarchs, which is perfectly legit and nothing to see. I’ll forgo the forgetting my crack pipe in my Hertz part.Of the 53 GOP senators, 50 signed onto the Graham resolution as co-sponsors. 

The bad guys need 20 Republicans to flip minimum. Naturally, the loathsome Gimp Romneysubmitted and obeyed the Candy Crowleys of the media and refused to sign on. 

That puppy-persecuting, malignancy-dispensing sap is a sure vote for impeachment. Lisa Murkowski is too – why the normally sensible people in Alaska keep electing this human igloo is beyond me. 

And Susan Collins also refused. That’s weird. She’s usually very offended by unfairness and the lack of due process – look at her famed Kavanaugh speech. Why she is tolerating this disgraceful star chamber nonsense is unclear – is it because she’s in a tough election? The fact is, if she votes with the Dems, she loses every non-Never Trumper voter in her bizarre, moose-infested province. 

And the remaining collection of Fredocon maple marshmallows would deliver about 5% of the vote. Joining in on the lynching – HE SAID IT AGAIN! – would earn her exactly zero Democrat cross-over votes. None. So why she won’t sign on is a mystery. 

Susan Collins is frustratingly moderate, but while she is a RINO she’s not a dumb RINO. She is not a sure vote for impeachment.Most GOP senators know this farce is stupid and wrong, and they don’t have to even think about it. 

But some are weak and some desperately want to go back to the days of elite unaccountability and the pleasing submission to progressive progress that was in effect before Donald Trump came along and started making conservatives actually conserve stuff. 

They would love to dump Trump if they could, but they know that the base would utterly demolish them. This is good, because it means the system is working. Politicians should live in perpetual terror of offending their constituents. 

In any case, the Graham poll is pretty clear that out of 53 GOP members, 50 are solid against conviction, whether from conviction or from the conviction that if they betray us, we’ll convict them in the next primary.

On the Democrat side, there are likely 47 Democrats ready to throw out the elected president based on what is literally fourth-hand hearsay accusing him of doing what Joe Biden is on videotape literally bragging about doing. That Doug Jones guy who won in Alabama solely because the GOP insisted on nominating that teen-dating weirdo is facing reelection in 2020, and he might waver in an attempt to save his seat. 

Joe Manchin probably won’t jump onto this sinking ship and will likely vote “No” – though he would totally vote “Yes” if it was going to pass. But think of the hilarity that would ensue if Manchin was faced with being vote Number 67 – that finger-in-the-wind weasel would likely spontaneously combust.

Note how any consideration of the manifest injustice of invalidating the American people’s decision in the 2016 election based on Schiff’s sham plays no role in any of this for the Dems. 

But hey, this coup d’twerps is not about right or wrong, nor fact or evidence, and never was. Though he didn’t, Trump should have affirmatively conditioned Ukrainian military aid on that corrupt country ferreting out the truth about why snortunate son Hunter was getting a prima facie corrupt payoff from a foreign oligarch. T

hat’s irrelevant. The Democrats know they can’t beat Trump through the political process, or through the legal process, so they are simply going to try to manufacture a façade of high crimes and misdemeanors and take him out purely because they can. 

If they can. 

It’s all about power. It’s a gang fight. But it’s a gang fight we will win. Remember, the future belongs to those who can count.

Can you dig it?

You know who don’t count? The Never Trump losers who scribble away in their unread blogs dreaming of the day when once again the people in power will return their phone calls. 

These are the same cheesy defectives who called my action-packed yet hilarious novels of America torn apart by liberal malice, People's Republic, Indian Country and Wildfire (Number IV, Collapse, is done and drops in November!) “appalling,” which is the best recommendation I could ever hope for!

[suckitsurveys]

first survey as a married lady!

1] Have you ever eaten ‘Magic Mushrooms’? Nope. 

2] When was the last time you heard your favorite song? I have no idea what that is right now. 

3] When was the last time you changed the linen on your bed? We washed our sheets last week. 

4] Last amount of money you received and why? $25 from a coworker for our wedding. 

5] Last time it rained? Yesterday. 6] Do you work out on a regular basis? I do. 

7] Last article(s) of clothing you purchased? A strapless bra. 

8] Do you have Rubbing Alcohol? I don’t.

9] Or do you only care about the alcohol you can drink? Uh, no?

10] Have you ever been south of the equator? Nope.

11] Do you remember when bands like Hedley, Fall Out Boy, and 30 Seconds To Mars were cool? I’ve never heard of Hedley actually, but yeah, I remember that era fondly.

12] Do you frequently tell your boyfriend/girlfriend/life partner etc… how you feel about them? I do. 

13] What was your last really good dream? I’m not sure. 

14] Do you ever whip out a coloring book and just start coloring? I need to do that more often. 

15] Did you ever have one of those toy guns that shot out bubbles? Probably. 

16] If someone you lived with had to walk in on you naked, who would you prefer it be (of the people you live with)? I live with my husband, so. 

17] Last person to touch your head? Mark.

18] Nearest receipt to you, what is on it and how much is the total? The receipt from our marriage certificate. It was 19 bucks for two copies. 

19] Do you (or your parents) drive forward or backward into your driveway or parking spot? We don’t have a designated spot, so I have to parallel park usually.

20] When was the last time you ironed? I don’t think I’ve ever done that. 

21] Last party you went to? Hmmm. The Fourth of July party I threw with our neighbors. 

22] Last person to kiss your cheek? Mark.

23] Last person to e-mail you? My friend Sarah. 

24] How many CDs do you have that came out this year? Zero.

25] What fragrance are you wearing? I’m not.

26] What did you last throw in the garbage? Containers from the dinner Mark and I got tonight.

27] Who did you last babysit? My niece. 

28] Last relative visited? My sister, I guess?

29] Favorite animal? Pandas. Kitties. Bats. 

30] Favorite song? Too many.

31] When, who, and how long was your longest relationship? Mark. Today was out 6 year anniversary. Also we got married, oops. 

32] When, who, and how long was your last relationship? Not important.

33] Which states/provinces have you been in (Even briefly)? Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming.

34] Have you ever had an exotic pet? I haven’t.

35] Which color bandannas do you have? I have a random yellow one. I don’t know where it came from. 

36] How many beanie babies had you collected as a kid? I'm not sure of the amount but they are all still hanging out on shelves above my old room at my dad’s.

37] Last time you shaved? When I showered this morning.

38] Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope.

39] How old were you when each of your grandparents died? I wasn’t alive when my dad’s dad and my mom’s mom died. I was 5 when my mom’s dad died. And my dad’s mom is still alive. 

40] Have you ever been on rateyourteachers.ca (or com)? Yeah.

41] What is the dominant color of your outfit today? My wedding dress is blue, so that. 

42] Do you floss and use mouthwash every day? Oops.

43] Last three kinds of cereal consumed? Rice Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch...and...I have no idea. Life, maybe?

44] When asked to list a number of ‘last’ things, do you list most recent or least recent first? I have no idea. 

45] Last children’s movie watched, and enjoyed? Moana. 

46] Name all the buildings you’ve been in today? A hotel, the courthouse where Mark and I got married, the building the hotel pool is in, Outback Steakhouse, Jewel-Osco. 

47] How many pairs of heels do you own? One. And a pair of wedges. 

48] What do you use to wash your make-up off before bed? I don’t wear makeup, usually. I did today and I used a makeup wipe to get it off. 

49] What color is your nail file? Pink.

50] Last thing you won? Oh geeze. Tickets to a Blackhawks game last year?

[automatismoateo]

There was an anti-lgbt march on Church St. in Toronto today and the mods on /r/toronto are actively filtering criticism of religion and shaming atheism. via /r/atheism

Submitted September 29, 2019 at 01:59AM by Kelosi (Via reddit https://ift.tt/2nvRX3s) There was an anti-lgbt march on Church St. in Toronto today and the mods on /r/toronto are actively filtering criticism of religion and shaming atheism.

https://i.imgur.com/XbciQGO.png

r/toronto is one of the most toxic subs on reddit, and its largely because the mods are corrupt and biased. This demonstrates a clear conflict of interest and is the exact wrong way for a person in a position of authority to respond to a serious concern.

There's got to be some form of recourse against this. Preferential treatment of religion in Canada is a real problem. And its a much bigger issue than most Canadians realize. This is not a secular country. We do not have separation of church and state. And our publicly funded catholic school system, which also gets to claim that 30% of that subsidy as a donation making it tax exempt, is literally separate but equal. And we were condemned but the UN multiple times in 1999, 2005 and 2006, which most Canadians just brush off without even addressing the actual arguments.

I attended a part of my high school in Montgomery, Alabama. I've seen segregation first hand, I've seen the KKK marching down the streets of Birmingham, and I was laughed at by my classmates when I mentioned we have publicly funded catholic schools. I learned a lot when I was living in Alabama and Ontario is way behind them and most Canadians don't even realize it. We have a total of 38 secular schools boards and 38 religious school boards in Ontario funded completely by tax dollars. That would be illegal in the United States.

This march was just like the march in Birmingham. And I really think more Canadians need to start speaking up about our lack of secularism, the fact that our constitution was literally conditional on catholic schools, which half of our provinces have abolished by now, and how this hidden subculture is actually at the root of countless examples of segregation in Ontario and across Canada.

Like segregation between the French and the English. There is propaganda opposing the secular movement in Quebec right now, and its made possible because despite being our closest neighboring province, Ontarians have zero knowledge of current events in French Canada. The border between Ontario and the US is more permeable than the border between Ontario and Quebec. And aboriginal segregation is a million times worse. Half of populated reserves aren't connected by roads and are struggling for basic amenities like clean drinking water. Its literally like inner China.

Canada is under a huge threat right now. As we approach our federal election, anti-lgbt and anti-abortion bigotry is on the rise in preparation for and in the hopes of electing their own alt-right prime minister, Andrew Scheer. Scheer is to religious fundies in Canada what Trump is to evangelicals in the US. They think he's their messiah, and I genuinely fear for the security and safety of minorities in Canada. More people need to be speaking up about this and how these groups and religious demographics in particular pose a direct threat to our democratic process. They're trying to recreate the catastrophe in Canada that put Trump in office in the United States. Its like Trump is an invitation to them, and probably the only thing standing in the way of an alt-right Prime Minister is the success this group has already had on putting Doug Ford into office as Premier of Ontario, which has turned into an epic disaster.

10,000 teaching positions have been cut by Ford, increasing some class sizes to 40 students per teacher. Which btw disproportionately affects public schools since catholic schools get a tax exemption. And he cut low income subsidies for post secondary school to give a tax cut to education. He essentially took money out of the hands of poor students and gave it to rich students. And despite his cuts, this is still one of the most expensive budgets Ontario has had in decades. He openly lied about the figures in the Ontario Hydro buy back and we lost over $100 million. And I'm not even going to touch his $1 billion dollar plan to end the monopoly on alcohol (which needs to be done but not like this) so that he could fulfill his election promise of $1 beers. I'm not joking!

And the legal marijuana scandal is a national embarrassment. We lost over $40 million dollars selling weed. How is that even possible? Its because those companies were reserved for conservative pals of Ford, there's practically zero competition, prices are twice as high and the quality is garbage, and the licensing program for suppliers is a complete crony scam. Illicit marijuana is actually experiencing a huge boom now that the government shut down all the "illegally" operating clinics servicing terminally ill patients. Its been scandal after scandal after scandal, and its our religious subculture that's supporting this hypocrisy.

And if Scheer gets into office it will spell disaster for all of Canada. He refuses to discuss his views on lgbt or abortion, implicating himself and indicating that he knows his views are wrong. He doesn't believe in climate change and wants to abolish the carbon tax, and his alternative is a subsidy that studies have already shown would make a negligible difference for low income earners and have the greatest impact for those earning more than $120,000/year. Like Ford he's an obvious puppet and his policies are blatant and obvious lies explicitly designed to benefit the rich.

These actions should be chargeable. He is overtly and evidently deceiving voters.

As it stands I am completely appalled that r/toronto is filtering coverage of the anti-lgbt event and silencing criticism on religion. And this kind of stuff happens every day and no one speaks up about it. Its paralyzed our democratic process and these cuts eat away at the social services Canadians value and fought for. Our social systems are a disgrace. They consistently fail to meet their intended purpose because they're skeletons of what they should be and have been picked dry by cuts and American crony wannabes. Their strategy is to make it look like these services don't work so they can cut them even more, and you hear this rhetoric in the United States too but these services are failing entirely because of attacks by conservatives. They are creating the problem that they are self reporting on. Sound familiar?

Canada is not as pious as it pretends to be. From the outside it looks like we have socialism but on the inside its a political shit-show riddled with corruption, misinformation, abuse and privilege. We need to fight for election reform and secularism, otherwise these groups are going to continue to have a disproportionate influence, all while decreeing prosecution. Case and point. Literally no one is excluding them yet they claim "diversity includes bible believing Christians." In response to gay marriage?! We do ourselves a disservice by giving this misinformation equal footing. Especially considering these groups have traditionally opposed every equal rights movement we've ever had.

Religion is not race, gender or orientation. Religion is a belief and beliefs can be wrong. Especially when they're used to target race, gender and orientation. And we do condemn certain beliefs, like Nazis and the KKK. You can't compromise with a belief that actively seeks to undermine you and make up its own facts as it goes. And that includes religion. People read those signs and actually believe that religion is being persecuted in Canada, when no other business or group gets a subsidy AND a tax exemption. How can you trust voters to make informed decisions when we allow misinformation to stand side by side with reason based on evidence? That's why democracy is failing in Canada, and why so many of our services are littered with corruption and exist solely to save face.

The more I learn about my country the more I realize that it does not value evidence, merit or integrity. It is a meticulously tiered system of in-groups that consistently sweeps every problem we have under the rug only for it to rear it head again in another decade or two. Just research the history of religion in Canada. From the controversy in 1907 when catholic school teachers were held to a different standard of education, to the push towards secularism in the 60s. Most Canadians don't know these things. And most people outside of Canada have no idea about the aboriginal residential school system that removed 30% of aboriginal children from their homes and resulted in the deaths of between 3,200 to 6,000 children. We still don't even know due to incomplete record keeping. Or about the Japanese internment during WWII where Japanese Canadians were rounded up and put into internment camps. Most of which did not have their belongings, property or businesses returned to them. I recently met a Japanese Canadian man in a men's trauma support group who still feels defined by this event. These are not one-time events. This is a pattern of behavior that spans our entire history as a nation and we need to make our government and our peers much more accountable than this.

[allbeendonebefore]

@ask-aph-acadia, @lilcutiebear, I’m making a new thread to reply to you both here p:

lilcutiebear: I took French immersion from k-12 so I’m very much in support of learning a second language and not monolingual. Personally I think there are two big factors in animosity towards French immersion in the west that have nothing to do with dislike of francophones. One is that I have seen articles complaining that it is like having a private school within the public school system (I’ve seen articles like that from basically every part of the country not just the west). More particular to the west is that many ppl here aren’t French Canadians or English Canadians and think it would make more sense to teach another language like German or Ukrainian or Chinese or Cree since more people here have those kinds of ancestry. So sometimes it feels like the east is pushing its linguistic divide onto us. I also feel like Anglophones here are different from Anglophones out east because a lot on Anglophones here are only Anglophones because their ancestors were forced to attend school in English rather than their native language. (I.e. My grandpa’s first language is Polish and even though he grew up in a community that was evenly split between poles and Ukrainians (with most kids understanding at least part of both)and his teacher was Ukrainian she wasn’t allowed to teach in any language other than English).

yes absolutely, this is another aspect of the issue that gets totally glossed over in the anglo/franco division. I don’t know about my personal family line but certainly people with my ancestry were discriminated against, forced to learn English, and also put in internment camps for their heritage and speaking Ukrainian. Canada making everything into a Catholic/Protestant or a French/English binary really does not evenly apply to the history of the West in particular but also can cause similar rifts elsewhere. Like we recognize bilingualism is good but 1. our educational systems are often garbage and 2. finding exposure to a native speaker of a target language can vary wildly, and learning French across Canada can be difficult if you are learning International French at School and Quebecois, Acadian or backwater prairie French at home. and 3. it’s always been grating that French (and English) are always prioritized over languages people already speak- we recognize Canada is a bilingual country, but there is not enough motivation or access to materials or native speakers in all locations unless you’re Really Super Determined to get a government job and can afford to move to a city with the programs. Canada is also a country of immigrants, and multilingualism should be celebrated beyond French and English.

ask-aph-acadia: For the criticism: I do remember seeing a few people draw the territories with darker skin, but since I couldn’t really see a big difference in their traits and the other provinces’ in the old art, I really had a hard time seeing if they were white or not, even though I know that First nations and Métis can have paler skin ( One of my characters is actually Métis and has pale skin, but I tried to make it easier to see with the other traits. ) I should maybe watch more of the ProCan videos though, just to make sure I don’t say things that were changed.

Lol i mean good luck, we basically do one video every three years and the projo has come to a standstill but yes Attempts Were Made 

I think that if PEI didn,t exist as a province at all I wouldn’t have had that much problems with NB and NS being a couple. I remember thinking that making it this way was excluding PEI from Acadia ( I can’t really say the Maritimes for this situation, since Newfoundland doesn’t have much to do with all of that ), forgetting that it’s been a part of NS too, maybe for a smaller time, but it still happened and gets forgotten a lot in designs for Acadia. PEI was also there when NB and NS talked about becoming one colony, so again seeing them as a couple made me feel like the smaller one was being kind of forgotten. I usually see people making PEI Nova Scotia’s sister/brother, while leaving NB and NS as a couple and I’ve always wondered what made them that different from Prince Ed for other people. 

Obviously I’m not a Maritimer, and I do tend to have my reading of the history shaped by what people have done in the past so I can absolutely see that there’s ambiguity in those relationships. I can’t speak for Sherry’s interpretations, I can only attempt to justify them in my own readings. I did get the sense that PEI has a very strong little sibling vibe i.e. the strong independence streak without wanting the responsibility, but I can read NS as the long suffering big brother figure for either of them. I think it’s the strong Scottish heritage that tends to tie NS and PEI together more than NS to NB, but I could be wrong.

As for Alberta and Saskatchewan, I think a lot of people see them as “sister provinces”, me included, and that’s why we usually see them as siblings, without mentionning the project of “Buffalo” ( I think that’s what it was called? Correct me if I’m wrong ).

Buffalo is correct: nowadays we tend to see each other as sister provinces but it can also depend on the reading of the history- Wilfrid Laurier dividing the provinces up can be seen as completely arbitrary with little regard for the people already living there, as an eastern imposition etc, but it rubs me the wrong way to just throw them together because they share a birthday (because I’ve got a personal Dislike of using Confederation as a literal birthday rather than a symbolic birthday and I really don’t like AB/SK portrayed as identical and interchangeable twins (even though lately our politicians have been playing that game loll a story for ANotHER Time). It’s definitely a close relationship that I tend to at least read as adoptive siblings since I’m Not a fan of literal biological relationships- they are definitely the closest out of the former Rupert’s Land territories fam.

For Poutines: I can tell you that when the cheese curds are fresh from today, it’s even better. I live in an area where the milk industry is very big and we’ve got that company called Chalifoux that makes the best cheese curds I’ve ever tasted. A lot of our restaurants use them in their poutines and it’s amazing. I know a few people that prefer shredded cheese but they obviously didn’t taste the best poutine in the region.

Another day another reason to be sad and lactose intolerant ToT and yet i regret nothing

For Alberta: I see that Quebec and Alberta have a very different version of the story. Honestly, I never saw Quebec as a province that tried to bother Alberta, we’re so concentrated on our own politics  that we hardly notice what happens in the rest of the country most of the time. I think the last time I heard about Alberta in the news was during Fort Mac’s wildfires, and a lot happened since it started. But again, we’re so focused on complaining about Phillipe Couillard that we don’t even see what he does, for the most part ( Doesn’t change that he’s a shit PM to me, but that’s a story for another day. ) The only other time I’ve heard about AB in the news was for the pipeline and I can say it’s at that moment that I’ve heard the most people going against the prairies. 

That’s regionalism for you, most of us tend to only focus on our own affairs until the minute someone releases some bad poll data about how much one hates the other online and then everyone goes ballistic. p: Pipelines again are a nuanced issue and while I personally am anti-pipeline i understand the reasons AB doesn’t see it that way, again we just got over a long 44 year political dynasty headed straight towards economic dependence on a single resource that our current government is trying to undo, and frankly it’s overly simplistic to just paint us as the bad guys because we’ve made some dumb decisions and backed ourselves into a corner here. We’re dumb, we get it, but don’t say it to our faces lol. Again if you are interested in this stuff I try to reblog news articles frequently on my personal blog under the yeah y yeah alberta tag  (my political bias is Obvious)

The other part of the story is the federal government is built on pitting regions of Canada against each other, and right now the West is the favourite scapegoat. Former PM Harper did not help our image at all in the 2000s-2010s and I take IMMENSE satisfaction knowing that he’s now got to answer to a Muslim mayor and a New Democrat premier, you have no idea. But it’s fear mongering like that where ohhh the west is all about oiiillll and then ignoring the history of Eastern Canada literally just taking it from us and the federal government making it our current major export etc etc is really hypocritical at best (the scapegoating Alberta for the oil and saying ohhh it’s so baaad and unenvironmental and then wanting to live off the profits is something that really is an easy way to piss us off, and the federal government does it all the time. 

We really saw Alberta and Saskatchewan as the big bad guys and a girl I knew started to DESPISE the provinces, even though she also hated Quebec? ( She’s the one we had drama with when creating our version of the provinces, she hated Alberta so much that she wanted my character to die… That’s a lot of hatred, but that is also a story for another day. ) I think a lot of Quebeckers are not over that yet, it’s probably time for us to go complain about something else than that ahah.

This is one of those touchy subjects and it Really Pisses me Off when people like to use aph Alberta OCs as their stereotypical villain character without ever considering our perspective or history, it’s happened enough that I’ve not been seeking out ocs for my province anymore for that reason. We already get that enough in mainstream politics, and all it does is make us angrier and act even more out of spite. I’ve seen Quebec and Ontario both treated the same way, of course, but QUON is such a popular pairing that more often than not its just Oh here is Loud Obnoxious Alberta Here To Ruin Everything for Us Once Again. They’re all such good and nuanced characters that it makes me real sad to see them reduced like that. I’ve always seen the relationship as playful banter/teasing between the three of us (and really four because BC is up there with us) and I kind of feel partially responsible for my adlibbing in old IAMP episodes being taken Too Seriously.

Also hating a character is once thing, hating them to wanting them to die is beyond rude, and hating an aph oc for representing a place with real people is Beyond offensive to me, sigh... 

For French: I can get why a lot of people complain about having to learn it, it’s a hard language, even for native speakers. We’re also guilty of blaming the “anglos” for making us learn English. I do see how Quebec and Ontario look like they have been working together, but we don’t see it from inside Quebec, since we complain about Ontario as much as we complain about the rest of the provinces ( Ontario is actually our biggest target, it’s easy to do, since we’re so close. ) I don’t mind people complaining about French outside of Quebec, but it’s when people do it inside the province that it bothers me. I already see so many people choosing to speak English instead of French, thus loosing what’s supposed to be their native tongue that I and a lot of other people get on the defensive when we talk about language issues, like when we don’t know what language to speak in in Montreal. Remember when I talked about Phillipe Couillard? Well, he recently asked for English people to come back in the province and I can tell you that it wasn’t welcomed as a good thing by most Quebeckers… ( I could rant about Couillard for hours but I think it’s better if I stop it there) We’re welcoming of tourists but when we hear them complain about how everything’s written in French, it’s at that moment that we get a lot more like the stereotype.I would love to visit one day, and maybe these English class will finally be useful somewhere else than on the internet ahah

(of course once again see Amy’s response above for the western perspective on this issue) 

there’s a lot of common jokes that the only unifying thing about canada is everyone’s hatred of ontario and that the best thing to solve everyone’s problems would be if ontario were to separate and leave the rest of canada alone xDD but of course at the end of the day it’s still nothing personal and as much as I can’t quell the Stereotypical Albertan gut reaction to shake my fist at all things Ontarian, I am very fond of this place and have been treated exceedingly well whenever I’ve visited and I hope my good fortune will continue. But of course I understand wanting to protect French within Quebec, and I do really wish it was a more accessible language in other parts of Canada. But yeah, travel, education, all that gives me hope for the future (too bad Canada is so Damn Big or I’d be all over it already).